MOTORISTS and businesses caught up in the chaos caused by Tuckton Bridge works have hit out at the “horrendous” four-day closure.

Queues and delays stacked up across Bournemouth and Christchurch on Tuesday and Wednesday following the start of the closure to replace the road surface.

Traffic on Tuesday evening stretched back to Iford, Castle Lane and Pokesdown with many motorists caught up for more than an hour due to the congestion along Barrack Road and Iford Lane.

Jenni Wilkinson, head of marketing, Yellow Buses, said: “Tuckton Bridge is one of our arterial routes and, inevitably, there has been a significant knock-on effect to our services caused by its temporary closure.

“We’d like to thank our staff, who have worked hard to minimise disruption, and our passengers who have remained cheerful and stoical in difficult and at times trying conditions.”

Shops in Tuckton and Christchurch High Street also suffered with many traders reporting a drop in footfall, and motorists queuing up and down the High Street.

People living near the bridge said trying to get anywhere was a “nightmare”, with businesses in Tuckton claiming the past two days had been particularly difficult for trade.

Buses were also delayed by the volume of traffic.

Alison Vincent, owner of Tuckton Tea Gardens said: “For an Easter holiday we should have a lot more people here.

“This closure is a nightmare.

“This work has been horrendous. Christchurch and Bourne-mouth are tourist towns and they should have arranged for the work to be done out of the holiday season.

“It’s the first bit of money people can earn since last summer and businesses can’t afford to lose anything at the moment.”

Rosie Hodgkinson, co-owner of Mocha Turtle in Tuckton said: “We’re definitely down because we’re not getting the passing trade. The last three weeks have been pretty quiet.”

And Kim Neal from butchers Neal’s & Son in Tuckton said: “People have been avoiding the area. It’s hard enough anyway but this has been particularly bad.”

Linda Cook from Heartizans Deli in Christchurch said: “We had a really good weekend when the bridge was open but Tuesday was so quiet, we wondered what had happened.

“One of our suppliers was saying it took him an hour and half longer than usual to get through.”

Tracy Challen from Tony Hair in Christchurch said it had taken her husband an hour and 10minutes to get from Highcliffe to the other side of Christchurch on Tuesday.

Ian Kalra, transportation services manager at Bournemouth council, said; “These are essential maintenance works to a heavily used structure which is over 100 years old.

“I would like to reassure the travelling public that we have done all we can to programme these works in such a manner as to minimise disruption to traffic.

“A full closure of the bridge is required for a period of four days to replace the road resurfacing on the bridge, however, this has been programmed to take place during the school holiday period when the impact on traffic and in particular school buses will be reduced.”