PARTS of Bolton were gridlocked on Tuesday night as roadworks brought traffic to a grinding halt.

Rush hour commuters faced massive tailbacks, doubling their travel time. And with resurfacing work keeping Thicketford Road, Tonge Moor, closed for nearly two more weeks, the traffic chaos looks set to continue.

Queues on Bury Road and Crompton Way snaked back as far as Folds Road. Rush hour drivers took an hour to travel just a couple of miles.

And a motorists' group has called on the council to complete the roadworks as quickly as possible.

Les Wardle, secretary of the Bolton branch of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: "It took me 25 minutes to get from St Peter's Way to Crompton Way - longer than it took me to drive to Bolton from Stockport.

He said: "There were a lot of people at the end of their tethers, but until the road reopens there is nothing drivers can do except hope that it is done quickly."

Road chiefs said they had chosen a two-week spell during the school holidays to tackle the work because roads were quieter.

Motorist Nora Boak, a credit controller from Harwood, one of thousands whose journey time was increased, said: "It normally takes 10 minutes to get home from the middle of Bolton, but now it takes 40 minutes.

"The side roads were packed with people trying to find a short-cut. Work should carry on through the night to get it finished quickly."

Businesses have also been hit by the mayhem caused by the work.

Firms at Firwood Works, Bradshaw, fear customers and delivery drivers will find it too difficult to fight their way through the traffic to their premises and be forced to turn back.

The road closure started on Monday morning and will remain in place for around two weeks.

A council spokesman said: "We are aware that it has caused problems for a lot of people. We have signals engineers looking at the traffic lights at some of the key junctions to see what can be done to ease some of the problems."

Three vehicles were involved in a pile-up during the rush hour after flash floods hit the M61, near to the junction of Bolton West service station. It took more than an hour to clear away the wrecked vehicles. No-one was injured.