BUSINESSES say ‘road work chaos’ on main arteries in and around Darwen is halving trade.

Since work to replace gas mains work began in the Lynwood area, traffic on the A666 has often been at a standstill with 10-minute journeys often taking an hour.

At the same time, Blackburn with Darwen Council has started work in Lower Eccleshill Road for bridge widening work, a route that is often used as an alternative to the A666.

Abdul Khwaja, of Impress Dry Cleaning, said he was worried about how he will pay bills.

He said: “Businesses are already in crisis without this major disruption. Mondays are usually a very busy day where I typically get 20 customers, but this week, we got eight.

“Everyone on this block is the same, we’re struggling because the side roads are closed and there is nowhere to park.

“I still have the same rent and bills to pay though, so I don’t know what to do.”

Karen Entwistle, of Atlas Road, said she spent an hour travelling to her mother’s house, close to the motorway junction.

She said: “Surely whoever is in charge could have made sure one road was open before starting work on another?”

Whitehall Coun David Foster said: “The council was warned that having these two sets of roadworks at the same time would cause chaos and so it has proved.

“The borough has been almost cut in two by these roadworks.”

Council regeneration cheif Brian Bailey said: “The road closure on Lower Eccleshill Road has been planned for some time in order to carry out a bridge strengthening/widening scheme before the new Darwen Vale school opens.

“However, as we were about to start on site, we were informed by National Grid they needed to carry out some emergency relining of a potentially dangerous gas main and they were being pressed to do this by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).”