A GARGRAVE man has spoken out about problems roadworks are causing just outside the village.

Drainage is being carried out on Eshton Road, Gargrave, resulting in its closure and nearby Ray Bridge Lane is being used as an alternate route, resulting in queues of traffic and other problems, according to a local resident.

"The highways authority is out of order," said Eshton Road resident Steve Cuthbert. "The grass along the narrow Ray Bridge Lane hasn't been cut and cars and lorries which have to pull over to let other vehicles past are ending up in the ditch alongside the road.

"Tractors have larger wheels and can handle it, but cars can't," said Mr Cuthbert, a farmer who has helped pull out one of the vehicles stuck along the roadside. "They're going to have to redo the side of the road."

He said the highways authority should have installed boundary marking posts by the ditches to keep vehicles from driving in them.

He added: "The grass along the road should have also been cut before they put the diversion in."

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council highways said: “The drainage work on Eshton Road is anticipated to be completed by July 28. We are aware that the road edges on Ray Bridge Lane are being pushed into the ditches by the passing traffic using it as a diversion route and an order has been raised for the contractor to reform the ditches on completion of the Eshton Road closure.”