United Utilities has announced it is digging up Sharoe Green Lane between its junctions with Sherwood Way and St Vincent's Road in Fulwood, Preston, from September 22 to replace an electricity cable.

They say the work has to be done on the faulty line to secure the power to 100 homes in the area.

But there are fears there will be gridlock in the area as motorists going to Preston College, Archbishop Temple CE High School and Corpus Christi RC High School on St Vincent's Road, flood the area with cars.

Mother-of-two Julie Naismith, who drives her children to the college from their home in Penwortham, said the works would create chaos in congestion hotspots on Garstang Road, Sharoe Green Lane and Sherwood Way.

She said: "If you try and get anywhere when the schools or college are finishing then you are faced with a wall of traffic wherever you go and this is only going to add to it.

"I cannot understand why they have to do it when the schools are in."

A United Utilities spokesman said it had applied to shut the road until October 31 as a precaution in case it runs into problems but hoped to have the work done by the beginning of October.

She said that the work had to be carried out at this time due to scheduling of works within the company.

County Coun Michael Welsh, who represents the Preston North East ward on the highways authority Lancashire County Council, said: "Coming on the back of the recent road works in Fulwood this will be very irritating for residents but the work has to be done and inconvenience is inevitable."

The works are the latest in a long line of projects by United Utilities which spent months laying high-voltage cables between Penwortham and Fulwood.



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