A NUMBER of roadworks have sprung up throughout Worcester over the last few days and they have produced the usual chaos. Sadly, it's a fact of life in the Faithful City that It doesn't take many cones or orange barriers to snarl up the traffic or cause blood pressure levels to rise.

Major footpath works at The Cross and Foregate Street are the latest examples. Excavations are causing much grief for traders and, in particular, the taxi drivers. They say they weren't given much notice and also complain that customers are having problems finding cabs.

Meanwhile, the man with responsibility for such matters, Councillor John Smith, insists that every effort has been made to warn interested parties that the work was due to be done.

So. Somewhere down the line, there was a communications breakdown. Either the taxi drivers didn't spread the word, or the works were undertaken at too short notice for them to organise an alternative rank from which to operate.

From where we're standing, it seems that the solution must lie with more effective public relations. Unlike the traders and cabbies, the council has a professional publicity department. We're not saying it doesn't do its job efficiently, just that sometimes a little bit more "belts and braces" can work wonders. People who have their noses to the grindstones all the time sometimes put their head in the sand when unpalatable reality rears it head. Perhaps a touch on the PR tiller is all that's needed.