TAXI drivers in Kidderminster say they are being driven round the bend by changes to the town's road system.

Journey times are being doubled at peak times, they claim, because of bottlenecks around New Road, Green Street and the Worcester Road island which have intensified since the opening of the B&Q superstore.

Now angry members of Wyre Forest Taxi Drivers Association are calling for a review to the new system, which it says has led to "unacceptable delays".

Chairman Roy Powell has issued an invitation to council officers to enjoy a free taxi ride so they can see the problems for themselves.

"The drivers are angry and frustrated and are getting abuse from regular passengers who have seen their fares increase because of the time we spend sitting in traffic," he said.

Mr Powell said the worst times were on Friday and Saturday afternoons and has highlighted a number of measures he believes would improve the situation. These include giving priority to drivers from Pump Street instead of Green Street from the B&Q direction, making Green Street from Dixon Street to Pump Street a two-way street again and changing lane priorities around the Worcester Road island.

Bus drivers are experiencing similar problems, it has emerged.

"We certainly share the frustrations of the taxi drivers," said Austin Birks, commercial manager for First Midland Red.

"While we applaud the efforts being made to regenerate Kidderminster, the town is becoming more and more congested and it is becoming difficult to maintain reliability. Passengers are missing appointments and becoming abusive to drivers.

"We would like to see the whole of the road infrastructure reinvestigated with some priority given to buses and bus lanes created."

Stuart Reynolds, manager of the Highways Partnership, which oversees district road issues, said there were no plans for a review.

"Admittedly, there are some hold-ups at peak times, but in the main the new system is working reasonable well," he said.

"You cannot put two large traffic generators like B&Q and Tesco in a town and expect things to stay as they are. But compared with other towns, there is little congestion in Kidderminster."