Diversion could affect emergency access, residents fear

Residents in a small hamlet fear their lives could be put at risk by a major road diversion - as a council says it cannot offer an accurate timescale for work to end.

Roadworks to repair a subsided carriageway through Upware, near Ely in Cambridgeshire, began on 17 August with an end date expected in June 2028, according to Cambridgeshire County Council's website.

But locals have described feeling "marooned" in their own homes due to road closures - as well as an "unsuitable diversion route".

Linda and David Miller say they now face a 34-mile (54.7km) round diversion along a single, unlined track, that is itself festooned with "lumps, bumps and humps".

David said he suffered a heart attack last year and felt anxious that an ambulance would not get to him quickly in an emergency.

The county council has apologised and said it fully recognised the closure would cause significant disruption and inconvenience - but added that the safety of all road users had to remain its overriding priority.

Linda says she now faces a long drive to collect mail in nearby Ely.

"Royal Mail can't use the diversion route, it is a terrible soil-affected track road, you have to take parts of it at 5mph to avoid damaging the car," she said.

The Millers said they lost £100 they had pre-paid to take their caravan on a long weekend away.

"We couldn't risk taking our caravan along the diversion route, it wouldn't have made it in one piece," David said.

Steve Munden has been farming in Upware for more than 40 years and says he is concerned with not knowing when the roadway will be opened again.

"I have customers coming to pick up hay and some of them have cancelled because of problems with getting to me", he said.

Munden currently rents out about 30 acres of land in Upware to a farmer from nearby Wicken to grow wheat, but fears that arrangement might come to an end.

"The margins are so small with wheat anyway and with the increase in travel time caused by the closure, it wouldn't be worthwhile him coming over, it will cost me about £7,000 if he quits," he added.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire County Council said the road has been closed due to the structural condition of the carriageway and the risk it presented to the safety of the travelling public.

It added that it was too early to provide definitive timescales for repairs or the reopening of the road.

It also said it appreciated the patience and understanding of the local community while work progressed as quickly as possible to reopen the route safely.

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