BURNLEY’S traffic woes are set to worsen later this month as one of the main gateways into the town is closed for improvements.

Trafalgar Street is set to close from 6am to 9pm for a fortnight from August 29 to allow for resurfacing work.

County Coun Tony Martin, whose Burnley Central West ward includes Trafalgar Street, said he had been getting complaints ‘daily’ from residents fed up with lengthy tailbacks.

Road users have been advised to travel via Burnham Gate, which is already experiencing heavy traffic because of work on the Westway roundabout.

Four-way temporary traffic lights at the junction of Accrington Road and Rossendale Road, to allow for work by Electricity North West, have also caused misery for commuters trying to reach the town centre.

Coun Martin said: “It’s a case of ‘damned if they do and damned if the don’t’. I’m getting emails from people daily because of the effects its had on their journey times. I’ve experienced it myself; you’re trying to go this way and that and it’s just all roadworks. It would seem this government has realised this area has suffered from under-investment for many years.

“And now they’re falling over themselves to get all the work done at once.”

Whittlefield with Ightenhill councillor Mathew Isherwood slammed the number of ongoing roadworks in Burnley as ‘ridiculous’. But Lancashire County Council said that it had warned business and residents of the work in April.

County Coun John Fillis, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "This investment will make a real difference to visitors' first impressions of Burnley.”