Roadworks turn Oswestry street into a 'rat run'

A quiet residential Shropshire street is being used as a rat-run following the closure of a main town centre route, causing mayhem for residents.

Park Avenue in Oswestry has been brought to a virtual standstill after the closure of Welsh Walls to the west of the town centre. The main route has been closed to through traffic as a result of Severn Trent work to relay ageing water pipes underground.

The traffic is now having to use Park Avenue, which runs parallel to the main road. But people living there say it has brought chaos to what is already a narrow road with parking on both sides.

Traffic has been brought to a standstill as motorists vie to drive between the parked cars.

Resident, Amber Downes, said: "It took me 40 minutes to get to work."

She said today's rubbish collection only added to the chaos.

Another resident, Craig Griffiths, said: "There was an articulated petrol tanker facing off a cattle truck outside my house, things can only get worse."

One worker said it took him 10 minutes to drive his work pick up down the road from Welsh Walls to the Greyhound pub.

"I had to keep weaving in and out of the gaps to avoid people," he said.