ROADS were gridlocked and hundreds of frustrated motorists were caught up in rush-hour congestion after a collision on a major Christchurch route yesterday - demonstrating the need for a relief road, say councillors.

Traffic was at a standstill across Christchurch from 8am due to the crash between a car and a pushbike on the Stony Lane roundabout.

The incident closed the westbound carriageway of the borough’s bypass for nearly an hour.

A witness said the 20-year-old male cyclist from Christchurch “bounced” off the windscreen of the red Vauxhall Corsa, landing on the grass verge.

It led to widespread congestion with motorists forced to seek increasingly busy alternatives through the village of Burton to the Avon Causeway as well as via Bridge Street and Somerford Road with traffic also backed up to Highcliffe.

The collision caused significant delays for more than two hours, with the cyclist being taken by ambulance to Poole General Hospital.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said the cyclist had not suffered life-changing or life-threatening injuries and was being taken to hospital “to be checked over”.

Yellow Buses said all its Christchurch services were delayed by at least 30 minutes due to the road closure, which was lifted just after 8.45am.

The car was recovered as its windscreen was smashed due to the impact with the cyclist.

Cllr Nick Geary, cabinet member for transport at Christchurch Borough Council, said: “Quite frankly this goes back to what we have always said; we need an outer relief road.

“We have a bypass which runs right through the centre of the town. It’s been an issue for many years now.

“But the problem we now have is that now we have no involvement since we lost the highways department to Dorset County Council.

“We’ve lost an important aspect of the town centre involvement.

“It’s obviously not ideal and we’ve been banging the bypass drum for a long time.

“The situation on our roads this morning was awful. But we are continuing to seek improvements. I hope the cyclist makes a swift recovery.”

Christchurch is one of the most congested parts of the conurbation and one of the few areas where traffic volume remains high throughout the working day and at weekends during the summer, according to evidence from the South-East Dorset Transport Strategy.

Arguments have raged over the location of the town centre “bypass”, almost since the actual road opened.

A number of abortive schemes have been drawn up over the years including widening Barrack Road and building an inner relief route alongside the railway line.

But those schemes have long been abandoned despite ongoing calls for action to be taken.

Congestion and disruption on the region’s roads has a crippling effect on the local economy according to a recent survey.

The South West Chambers of Commerce revealed poor transport infrastructure costs the region more than £165million a year as a result of disruptions to rail and road networks.

The disruptions result in late or non-arrival of staff and clients, cancelled or postponed appointments and business trips, a noticeable drop in customers for retail companies and resource issues for businesses relying on an inward supply of goods.