UNDERFIRE council boss Philip Whitehead remained bullish this week about the traffic scheme in London Road, Devizes which has brought weeks of misery to motorists.

Wiltshire Council cabinet member Cllr Whitehead said he was still convinced that once the work to put in traffic lights at the junction with Windsor Drive is complete it will significantly improve traffic flow along London Road in the mornings.

He said: "I do appreciate that for motorists at the moment it is horrendous but this scheme is all about improving air quality and it will work. If it doesn't I will stand by my pledge to face my critics."

He said that the £347,000 to pay for the project had come from developers to reduce traffic fumes and the new traffic light scheme would mean that in the mornings vehicles would move much more freely along London Road.

He said: "Exhaust emissions will be greatly reduced along a road at a time when many children are walking to school.

"I have always made it clear that this will not improve traffic flow in the evenings as there is a major problem with traffic coming off the Hopton Industrial Estate.

"But this traffic is backing up in a much more rural area and so doesn't create the same air quality problems and so this does not have the same priority."

Cllr Whitehead spoke of the moment he was told that the roadworks that were expected to be finished by the time children returned to school were to be extended after an uncharted gas main and soft ground was found.

He said: "It just isn't the sort of news you want. But actually it could have been much worse. The digger driver spotted the main in time so at least it didn't get smashed."

Cllr Whitehead has come under fire on a daily basis on social media from frustrated motorists who have constantly had to sit in traffic jams.

He said: "I understand why they are fed up. I do the journey quite often myself but I realise it is much worse for those who have to do it every day."

He said the main part of the work would be completed by the end of September and then work will be carried out overnight from 7pm to 6am for a week at the beginning of October for resurfacing. Windsor Drive will be closed during these hours.

Wiltshire council's cabinet member for highways Bridget Wayman added her apologies to motorists about the extension of the work. She said: "“I share the frustration of everyone who has to put up with this delay and we apologise for that. I know it is of little comfort when people are sitting in slow or stopped traffic, but when the works are done they will ease traffic flow into and out of town."

Updates on the roadworks can be found at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/highways-improvements-london-road