DRIVERS in Dawlish have been dealing with yet more traffic chaos while gas work is underway.

Wales and West Utilities is back working along the A379 Exeter Road to replace and upgrade gas pipes.

But traffic lights put in place have caused huge queues to build up across the town.

Some drivers reported delays of up to half an hour due to the tailbacks.

Angry county councillor Rosie Dawson said it was ‘not good enough’ and ‘needs sorting out’.

She said: ‘It should not be taking 30 to 50 minutes with delays back to the country park and this is not acceptable.

‘This project has been months in the planning and residents should not have to put up with this.’

She said the ‘remote intelligent’ manning of the traffic light was anything but.

After lodging a formal complaint with Wales and West headquarters, Cllr Dawson was told there should be on site traffic management staff in place to tackle any build up.

Residents are furious at yet more delays.

One said: ‘If this was a one-off then we might be a bit more lenient but as we're now 18 months into a huge series of disruptions, it's beyond a joke.’

Another complained that the situation was made worse by drivers failing to comply with red lights.

One bus passenger described being an hour late returning home due to the tailback.

Another disgruntled motorist said: ‘I've lost count of how many months disruption we've had.

‘It's costing me far more in fuel to get to Exeter the other route for work and with the massive increase in fuel costs is hitting pockets hard.

‘Tonight, I was queued back to St Mary’s cottages.

‘Not happy, this needs to be finalised quickly.’

Wales & West Utilities Programme Controller, Roxanne Whittaker, said: ‘We have been working in the Exeter Road area of Dawlish to upgrade the gas network.

‘This project is vital to ensuring gas continues to flow safely and reliably to homes and businesses across the area.

‘We’ve worked closely with Devon County Council to plan this work, and to do so safely, we had closed the A379, Exeter Road from April 13 to 24.

‘However, we are pleased to say that we have been able to reopen the road ahead of schedule and are now working under traffic lights.

‘Due to the nature of the road and the heavy traffic presence, we have reviewed our plans to manage the flow of traffic to help minimise disruption.

‘We had previously been operating under two-way traffic lights, but have now moved to a three-way system.

‘This should help prevent the buildup of traffic, though we would still advise people to leave more time to travel and take alternative routes if at all possible.

‘We are sorry for any inconvenience our work may cause, and appreciate that traffic delays like this are frustrating.

‘We are doing everything that we can to complete this essential work as quickly and as safely as we can.’