MOREBUS has said it has suffered “severe delays” over the past week as roadworks bring parts of Bournemouth to a standstill. 

Diverted traffic from the Wessex Way repairs, the cycle lane works in Wallisdown Road and temporary traffic lights in Christchurch Road have all been blamed for delays to bus services. 

Morebus say traffic has been particularly bad in Bournemouth town centre and Lansdowne and further congestion and delays are expected with the arrival of Christmas Tree Wonderland. 

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Richard Wade, Morebus general manager, said: “While all of our services have been affected, those routes that have been affected by more than one set of roadworks have not been able to complete subsequent journeys - and I would like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience this has caused.  

“Even where we've utilised spare drivers and buses, they've been stuck in traffic trying to get to the start of the route.  

“We appreciate these works are needed - and there are times in summer and over Christmas when it's agreed roads are likely to be busier - so we know BCP Council has a difficult job trying to fit everything in and unplanned works add to the headache.  

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“We have a positive working relationship with the council and continue to feed back our experiences.  

“We put a tremendous effort into getting a reliable network up-and-running this year and have added more buses and drivers as services have got busier.  

“Our supervisors and drivers are working tirelessly, and we're incredibly proud of their efforts, but we can't run reliably without road space.  

“We expect further congestion with the Christmas Tree Wonderland switch on tonight and are urging people to leave their cars at home and use alternative transport methods.”