ANGRY commuters have slammed Worcestershire County Council for allowing contractors to carry out work on a pedestrian crossing in Deansway during rush hour.

The Evening News has received several calls from exasperated drivers who have been stuck in traffic tailing back as far as London Road, on their way to work.

Alec Mackie, who works at Worcester fire station in Deansway, said the road had been "an absolute shambles" and "chaos" for three weeks.

"Why it has taken this long who knows," he said.

"And the work they are doing is crazy anyway - why we need five pedestrian crossings on a 200 yard stretch of road, from the Cathedral to All Saints Church in Deansway, is anyone's guess."

Mr Mackie added that the middle lane being closed was also causing problems for fire engines having to pull out into the traffic on their way to incidents.

Another driver expressed concern after watching an ambulance trying to fight its way through the traffic.

"I just hope it wasn't trying to get to a relative of one of the contractors," he said.

Chris Barski, accident studies manager at the county council, said the works are being carried out to improve pedestrian crossing points outside Worcester College of Technology for disabled users.

"The work has been delayed to a certain extent by various problems and the contractors have been working in rush hour as they can't leave the vulnerable, disabled students using the crossing unprotected," he said.

He added the work was due to be completed by the middle to the end of next week.