A 'RIDICULOUS' unauthorised closure of a busy main road in the city centre has disappointed Highways bosses.

There was chaos on Worcester's roads on Thursday (March 14) after Severn Trent decided to close Deansway during the morning commute. 

The water company closed the road without Worcestershire County Council's permission to deal with a burst water pipe.

A Severn Trent Water spokesperson said the team realised the disruption it caused and decided to postpone the work.

Councillor Mike Rouse, cabinet member for highways and transport for Worcestershire County Council, said Severn Trent was putting Worcestershire people through misery.

"I was very disappointed to hear about the unauthorised closure of Deansway by Severn Trent this morning, one of the city’s busiest roads, at one of the busiest times of the day," he said.

"Severn Trent Water appears to constantly abuse the emergency permit system for street works to suit them and their project management needs, but they are putting the public of Worcestershire through absolute misery, and it’s got to stop.

"I will be demanding a meeting with the chief executive of Severn Trent Water to understand how she will ensure that Severn Trent Water plans their works better, engage with the residents and businesses that will be affected, and put a stop to riding roughshod over the permitting system.

"We cannot ban them from working on our highways because they’re a utility company, and we do appreciate there will sometimes be emergencies, but this is ridiculous.” 

A spokesperson for Severn Trent said it is now liaising with the council highways department to confirm a suitable return date and is happy to discuss this issue with Cllr Rouse.

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise for the disruption caused by the closure of Deansway yesterday as our teams dealt with a repair on a burst water pipe. 

"In setting up the traffic management for teams to safely fix it, we realised this was causing disruption so have paused the work to review how best to make the essential repair, while causing as little impact as possible."