Contractors removed from site after receiving abuse

Concrete blocks have been put across a road after Anglian Water said drivers flouted a closure and its workers were subjected to abuse.

The B1049 Twenty Pence Road, between Wilburton and Cottenham in Cambridgeshire, has been shut for two months while a pipe upgrade was carried out.

Anglian Water said contractors had to be removed for their and the public's safety on 16 January, which led to the blocks being put in place.

The BBC spoke to a number of residents about the closure, with one calling the roadwork signage a "fiasco".

Anglian Water said it was "disappointed" by the abuse and asked for people's patience.

It added enhanced safety measures of concrete barriers at the south end of Twenty Pence Road between the River Great Ouse and Long Drove were installed on 19 January.

It added part of the road was closed, with the diversion route remaining via the A10. Residents living within the closure needed to exit the road to the north, it added.

Sally Belcher-Greenhalgh, 81, from Manea, Fenland, said the roadworks were a "fiasco" and she came across the concrete bollards on a journey back from taking her car to a garage in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire.

"I felt like I was in a no man's land, there were no signs or notifications on the barriers, I did not know who to contact or how to get back to Manea," she said.

Belcher-Greenhalgh added that she did not know anything about a diversion on to the A10 and had felt "stranded" at the concrete road block in the dark.

Navalett Cooper said she regularly travels between Cambridge and Wilburton to meet up with friends.

"Traffic on the A10 is a nightmare, we have to take a detour now to get to the Twenty Pence garden centre café, their car park is dead. We have all noticed how much quieter it is here, normally it can be tricky to get a table for five, now it's easy," she said.

Linda Doggett is one of Cooper's friends and also comes from Cambridge, she said the road closure has made travelling more difficult as the A10 now has to take extra traffic.

"It's not good to have these diversions, but it is also not good to hear about workmen being abused whilst trying to do their job, but I can understand the drivers frustrations with the road being shut," she added.

The Twenty Pence Garden Centre, which sits at the Wilburton end of the B1049, Twenty Pence Road has said it was facing a "challenging time" due to the road closure.

It said takings were 30% down and hours had been cut for some staff.

The centre was still accessible from Wilburton village and it said it was in talks with Anglian Water over possible compensation.

Anglian Water said compensation was provided for businesses that experienced financial loss as a direct result of its work.

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: "We're disappointed that our staff have received abuse during work to replace 2.6km of pipe on Twenty Pence Road that has come to the end of its working life.

"Doing this work now means we can prevent bursts, emergency closures and bigger problems later. It also helps improve water pressure locally, and reduces the risk of leaks and unplanned interruptions.

"However, in order to carry this out while keeping our teams and local road users safe, we have needed to close the road.

"We know roadworks can be disruptive, but we work hard to minimise this where possible, so we'd ask for local people's patience with our staff while they do this important work."

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