THE town’s motorists are set for more rush-hour rage as major arterial routes face prolonged closures this autumn.

Several roads, including Croft Road and Victoria Road, in Old Town , Kingsdown Road, in Stratton , and Tadpole Lane, in Blunsdon , have seen gridlocked traffic queueing to find diversions at peak times.

The Adver even revealed on Thursday how some impatient drivers took extreme measures to get round the Thames Water roadblock in Victoria Road by mounting the pavement.

On Swindon Council’s website there are a total of 40 current or planned closures across the town, ranging from resurfacing by the council to major works by utility firms.

And motorists are frustrated about delays along even the diversion routes, as one driver, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I was expecting Victoria Road to be closed during rush hour on Monday so I took a different route to work, but the whole town seemed pretty congested because there are roadworks everywhere.”

Another said: “It slipped my mind that Victoria Road was closed and when I tried to follow the diversion I became stuck in a bottleneck that way too. “What good is a diversion if those roads can’t cope with the extra traffic or more roadworks are blocking the way there as well?”

The work on Victoria Road could even be set to carry on into next week as a spokesman for Thames Water said: “The work has been more difficult than anticipated due to the depth of the collapse underground.

“We will be finished by Monday at the latest, but are still hoping to get this done by Sunday. We’re sorry for the disruption this is causing.”

Coun Keith Williams , the cabinet member for transport, said he felt for motorists and blamed the town’s ageing infrastructure.

“I know it is frustrating for drivers,” he said. “A lot of the closures are not so much the council resurfacing roads but the utility firms carrying out necessary work.

“There is little we can do as they have a mandate to carry out work if necessary.

“If they don’t carry out the work it could lead to holes in the roads and could put lives at risk.

For a full list of road closures visit www.swindon.gov.uk and click on the transport and streets link.