LAST Thursday afternoon I, like many (probably hundreds of) others found ourselves in a traffic queue en route to St Ives. In fact, it took me 40 minutes to travel the short distance from Houghton to St Ives. So one might ask why hundreds of people spent

LAST Thursday afternoon I, like many (probably hundreds of) others found ourselves in a traffic queue en route to St Ives. In fact, it took me 40 minutes to travel the short distance from Houghton to St Ives.

So one might ask why hundreds of people spent a total of hundreds of hours sitting stationary with their engines running.

Well, the contactors working at the two new houses on Houghton Road, St Ives, finished their day's work and went home leaving a set of barriers across one side of the road with a full set of traffic lights to control the traffic.

On investigation, I found that the barriers were there because approximately four to six shovels full of mud had been left on the edge of the tarmac surface.

This earth could have been removed within seconds, the safety barriers placed neatly along the edge of the road (as they were further on) and the lights removed, leaving the main highway clear for two way traffic.

Eventually, after six o'clock, a contractor returned to try to ease the traffic while awaiting the return of colleagues to clear the obstruction.

Considering the disruption to the public, the waste of people's time and fuel as well as the carbon footprint, I find it amazing that contractors on a private project are able to get away with such unreasonable behaviour. Surely the county council has some control over who does what on the highway and has some sort of redress when this sort of thing happens.

MIKE WELLS

Spinney Way

St Ives