'M6 closure took thousands of cars past my home'

A temporary motorway closure caused chaos on small rural roads after drivers ignored a permit scheme aimed at preventing congestion, a local farmer has said.

The M6 in Cumbria closed between junctions 39 at Shap and 40 near Penrith last weekend as part of work to replace the ageing Clifton Bridge.

Caroline Fancott-Beynon, who farms in Kings Meaburn, near Appleby, said she counted 130 cars passing her home in just 10 minutes on Saturday afternoon, adding "it was like a motorway going past on a little C road".

National Highways said it was sorry about the inconvenience and improvements would be made ahead of the next closure from 20:00 GMT on Friday.

Fancott-Beynon, 43, said residents were told only permit holders would be allowed to use the back roads during the closure to alleviate pressure.

This would have prevented drivers from deviating from official diversions via the A6 and A66.

"Clearly, that's not been the case because we've had practically all the traffic coming through past us," she said.

"There's no passing place, there's not enough room for the volume of traffic going both ways down the road."

She said vehicles were going past her home "all day and all night".

"[At] 2am, 2.30am on Sunday morning, it was still like constant traffic going past us," she added.

A National Highways spokesman said Cumbria Police had issued 44 fines on the diversion routes during the last closure.

Fancott-Beynon farms in the area and she said it would have been impossible for her to safely move livestock to the field opposite her farm.

"I understand this is a massive piece of work for [National Highways] to undertake, there's going to be issues crop up," she said.

"On paper, [the plan] works. I think the issue has been there's not been the manpower on the ground at the time of closures to enforce what they've got planned."

Steve Mason, a programme delivery manager at National Highways, urged drivers to stick to official diversion routes.

He said: "While we're encouraged by the largely positive feedback we've received about last weekend's operation, we've identified improvements for this weekend's final closure."

He said extra resources would be deployed to support work with Cumbria Police and Westmorland and Furness Council in "deterring drivers from ignoring official diversion routes".

"There will be further temporary prohibitions and extra staffing, including at King's Meaburn," he added.

The bridge was demolished last weekend and the new bridge is due to be positioned during this weekend's closure.

Disruption also affects trains on the West Coast Mainline, with buses running between Oxenholme and Carlisle and a shuttle rail diversion running on the Settle to Carlisle line between Preston and Carlisle.

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