KILMACOLM traders and a local councillor are complaining about ‘chaos’ in the village after roadworks caused major traffic disruption.

They say there has been ongoing problems for six weeks in the heart of the village because of roads being dug up by Scottish Water and BT Openreach.

One hole was even excavated by BT Openreach, filled in and then opened for a second time.

Councillor David Wilson and traders say takings are down because roads at the Cross have been dug up repeatedly and parking places removed.

He said: “I’ve been inundated with complaints from constituents and traders. We should not be leaving holes in the road for weeks with nothing happening.

“Temporary traffic lights have also been installed, taken down and put up again.” Councillor Wilson said the disruption could have been minimised if Scottish Water and BT had worked more closely to get everything completed more speedily.

He added: “There’s no co-ordination between the utility companies. They should be getting together to ensure work is done with minimal disruption.

“Takings are down at the Cross Cafe in Port Glasgow Road for example. Customers can’t get parked outside the shop and there are also problems with deliveries because vans have to park a distance away.” Cross Cafe owner Alda Jannetta said her business has been badly affected.

She said: “The delivery drivers have to park half way to Boglestone and my customers can’t get near the front door.” Scottish Water said their contractors carried out some repair work to a sewer in Burnside Place/Port Glasgow Road, Kilmacolm between 23 March and 7 April.

A spokesman said: “This work required some road traffic management, including four-way temporary traffic lights.

“We have not carried out any other work in this part of Kilmacolm in recent weeks.

“Whenever we do carry out work that requires road traffic management, like other organisations planning such work we always liaise with the local authority’s roads department.” A BT spokeswoman said roadworks can be necessary for many engineering reasons and are undertaken in accordance with any statutory requirements.

She said: “We are currently working on the installation of high-speed fibre broadband infrastructure locally.

“We’re sorry for any disruption while works take place, but we don’t undertake such works unless they are essential.

“Openreach applies for notice to the local authority to excavate.

“If other utilities are already working at the location, the authority may deny access until such time as the other utility has completed.

“There are times when utilities co-ordinate their work, but this generally depends on the nature and compatibility of the works and whether it is necessary to work on all the utilities in the road at the same time to allow alterations to the road, such as widening or surface lowering.” An Inverclyde Council spokesman said: “Utility companies have a statutory right to access infrastructure for maintenance and improvement.

“Proposed works – along with those planned by the council – are co-ordinated through the Scottish Roadworks Register to minimise disruption to road users, and where possible, to minimise the amount of work required on any given stretch of road.

“However, occasionally small scale maintenance and emergency works are required which can result in some roads being dug up more frequently.”