A FURIOUS councillor has slammed the "total madness" causing major delays on the A338 Spur Road and urged the council to "get it sorted."

Dorset and Christchurch councillor Margaret Phipps said the nine-month closure of one southbound lane is a "fiasco" and said it is "absolutely not acceptable."

She said the works should be carried out at night only and added: " I would like to know who is responsible for this abysmal planning and were any traffic surveys done of exactly what would happen to traffic with a lane permanently closed?"

Cllr Phipps, who lives in Matchams Lane, said she was stuck for 45 minutes between Snowtrax and the Avon Causeway on Tuesday evening.

She told the Daily Echo: "I and thousands of motorists got stuck in horrendous traffic jams across the whole of Christchurch borough and beyond, just because they decided to close off one lane of the A338.

"I believe I was lucky because apparently later the traffic queue was even worse. I finally reached Christchurch at 6.30pm – one and a quarter hours to travel a distance which usually takes me 15 minutes. I am sure other people have much worse horror stories than mine.

"People who are just trying to go about their daily lives and get to and from work, cannot be expected to put up with this ridiculous situation every weekday for months on end."

Cllr Phipps criticised council officers for giving out "the standard comment that they knew there would be some congestion and advising drivers to find another route."

And she added: "That is not good enough - all other routes are gridlocked or congested. Don't they know what's going on? Get it sorted out - this situation cannot continue."

Day one of the nine-month works saw three-hour tailbacks on the A338 southbound, 45 minute delays on Matchams Lane, tailbacks on the Avon Causeway and delays on Parley Lane and the B3347 from Ringwood to Christchurch.

There was also a knock-on effect in Ferndown and Longham.

Cllr Phipps said: "This is just ridiculous. I don't think any sensible person could say that we should have to put up with this for nine months."