ROADWORKS that have caused gridlock misery on one of Southampton's busiest routes were today being completed - four weeks early.

The £1m resurfacing works to Millbrook Road, which have caused daily delays to motorists trying to get in and out of the city, were originally scheduled to last 12 weeks.

However, despite setbacks due to bad weather, the workers are now clearing up having finished the job.

The city council says that it asked for more resources to be put in, and the contractor agreed at no extra cost.

Councillor Gavin Dick, Cabinet member for transport, said: "I asked for it to be speeded up and the staff have managed to do it. It's a fantastic result.

"They put more people on it. It's been down to the staff working really hard."

Cllr Dick insisted that the original 12-week programme, started on June 12, was a "realistic programme of work". Workers had agreed to work until 8pm or 9pm at night.

Cllr Dick said that the Tories were living up to a commitment to improve the road network in the city.

The scheme has seen the resurfacing of the westbound (towards the M271) carriageway from Payne's Road to 350 metres west of the Regents Park Road junction.

The new surface should resist vehicle rutting and reduce spray in wet weather.

Improvements to the lighting and the safety barrier were also carried out.

For motorists the works meant contraflows and lane closures, while the speed limit was dropped to 30mph.

Access to or from Regents Park Road and Millbrook Point Road was shut off and the traffic lights switched off.

Diversions were also set up as traffic was prevented from joining Millbrook Road from Payne's Road.

The works are part of an ongoing £41m investment to improve road surfaces in the city.

They were brought forward so that they could be completed in time for the Southampton International Boat Show next month.

A spokesman for the contractors Colas was unavailable to comment.