TRAVELLERS hoping to get away for the Bank Holiday weekend face a series of road and rail delays.

Motorists will have to contend with disruption on two of Britain's major motorways including the M6, while train passengers face problems because of engineering work.

Transport Minister Kim Howells says essential rail maintenance must be carried out and the holiday weekend will see fewer passengers disrupted.

The West Coast Main Line will be closed between Hemel Hempstead and Lichfield and Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport as work on bridges, signals and crossings gets under way.

The M25 and the M6 are expected to suffer serious delays

Direct rail links to and from London, Manchester and Birmingham are to be made available via alternative Midland Mainline services from St Pancras and Chiltern Railway services from Marylebone.

Other West Coast Main Line services will be diverted or replaced by a coach or bus.

Elsewhere, a number of link roads to the Spaghetti Junction on the M6 leading to Birmingham are to close.

According to the Highways Agency, roadworks will also remain in place on the M1, M2, M5 and M6.

But work on up to 20 other routes, including the M25 in Essex, the M27 in Hampshire, the M4 in Berkshire and the M61 in Lancashire, is to be suspended over the weekend.

Rail journeys will also be disrupted on the Great Western Mainline, which is to close between London Paddington and Reading, Berkshire.

Engineering work is being carried out on lines either side of Slough on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

This will cause major disruption for music fans hoping to travel by rail to the Reading festival.

Thousands are expected to use alternative services on the Waterloo line and special return buses laid on to Paddington in the early hours.