Highways chiefs in Cheshire have been forced to switch to evening working on a resurfacing job after road rage incidents with motorists.
Angry drivers have been fuming over congestion caused by the closure of Mobberley Road in Knutsford.
Tempers have boiled over and traffic management staff have been threatened by members of the public.
As a result Cheshire East Council decided this week to move the work to the evening.
Work was scheduled for 9.30am to 3.30pm but because of the threats working hours have been changed to 6pm to 10pm and work is now expected to be finished next week.
Local resident Stuart Willis told the Knutsford Guardian: “I have seen cars and HGVs having to drive on the footpaths and bottlenecks at the junction of Manor Park North and Shaw Drive, where wagons got stuck and couldn’t manoeuvre to get out, and then people have been abusive to the workforce and other motorists.”
A Cheshire East spokesman said: “A small minority of HGVs and vehicles were ignoring the closure, which posed a risk to the highways workforce and the public, and this was reported to Cheshire Constabulary.
“However on Monday a number of threats were made by members of the public against our traffic management staff, and because of health and safety concerns for the staff we took the decision to stop daytime working.
“We will now be working in the evenings between 6pm and 10pm, and expect to finish the job on Tuesday, October 14. We had wanted to avoid evening working so as not to disturb local residents with noise."
