COMMUTERS are set to experience another morning of traffic chaos after a water pipe burst on a major route into Blackburn town centre.

Drivers were caught in tailbacks of more than two miles along Burnley Road, Bottomgate and Eanam on Monday morning, with temporary traffic lights in place to try to filter the vehicles.

A water pipe burst on Friday afternoon, and although it was repaired over the weekend, the area was still waiting to be surfaced. The traffic lights also failed during the busiest part of the morning, causing more frustration for those trying to get to work, and the jam to stretch back to the Whitebirk roundabout.

A police car with its sirens blaring and its lights flashing struggled to get through the line of traffic, with cars having to go through the traffic lights to eventually allow it to pass. Angry drivers said their usual 10-minute journey turned into an hour of stopping, and starting.

One said: “It was a total inconvenience.

“If something happened on Friday, you would have thought by Monday United Utilities should have had it sorted, especially bec-ause it is one of the busiest roads into the town centre. I was late for an important meet-ing. I think they should have had diversions in place.”

Another added: “I couldn’t believe it. I almost burned out my clutch on the steep hill at the top of Burnley Road.

“It took an hour to move two miles.

“When I finally reached the faulty temporary traffic light at Eanam, there wasn’t even a policeman directing the traffic.

“People were furious about it.”

A spokesman for United Utilities apologised for the inconvenience caused.

He said: “This has now been fixed, and the road is being repaired and surfaced.

“Our aim is to have the road fully back open this afternoon.

“We’re sorry for the impact this has had on commuters.”