WINCHESTER commuters can expect at least another month of delays on one of the main routes into the city, say road chiefs.

The delays are being caused by £230,000 of bridge safety work being done on the St Cross Road at the junction with the Badger Farm Road and the turn-off to the M3.

However, hundreds of drivers are being caught out at the roadworks every day because of the proximity of temporary traffic lights to the busy roundabout.

As cars queue to get into the city during the morning rush, tailbacks are building up past the tiny waiting point for cars, meaning scores of other drivers wanting to head straight on to the M3 are also being caught up in the jams.

The works have been there since the start of June when Southern Water began diverting a water main, which runs under the road but across the railway bridge, to make space for extra safety fencing to be installed later in the summer.

Work on the second phase, the safety fencing, then began at the start of July with the latest predications suggesting the work won't be complete until the beginning of October.

When finished the extra fencing to the sides of the bridge should ensure that, in the event of an accident, vehicles don't end up on the tracks below.

But many of those using the route each day say they are getting fedup with the constant queues at rush hour.

Ben Bramshaw, 52, an account manager from Cross Way near Shawford, said: "It's getting very frustrating. I'm sure they need to do the work, but it's causing so many problems.

"On the one hand you've got people trying to get into the city while at the same time there are others just trying to get round the jams on to the motorway.

"Everyone's just getting in each other's way because they're all blocking each other. I can only hope it ends soon."

A spokesman for the AA said: "They should have offered the motorist some kind of alternative route into the city,especially as it's used by so many people.

"I can see that they have planned the work for a time in the summer when traffic is generally down a bit, but clearly this work is still causing substantial problems."