Traffic chaos last weekend, which saw a town centre bottleneck, could be repeated over the next 30 weeks, it is feared.

Motorists had to contend with temporary traffic lights alongside Bell Vue Mills in Broughton Road, Skipton.

It sparked huge tailbacks in both directions until the lights were removed after work was completed to erect scaffolding.

The highways authority is predicting further disruption on Broughton Road for the next 30 weeks, while work takes place on the redevelopment of the mill.

Mike Catlin, managing director of North Midland Building, which is carrying out the work, said traffic lights were necessary at the weekend while scaffolding was put up, but they had now been removed.

"Two way traffic has been resumed and it will resume for the forseeable future," he said. "I'm not saying there won't be two or three days where we have to reinstate them, but it won't be for the duration."

Broughton Road resident Andrew Rankine, who lives on Aireview Terrace, said the situation was bearable now the traffic lights had been removed.

But he said: "I think it's the lull before the storm and it's going to get worse. They will be bringing heavy plant machinery at some stage and that will be a problem.

"They have got a huge glass frontage to put in, so I guess at some point there will be skips on the road and wagons to take bricks away. Hopefully they will do their major work before the tourist season starts in spring."

Skipton fire station is also on Broughton Road.

Station manager Graham Whittington said there would be problems for the station if temporary traffic lights were in place.

While he was not too worried about fire engines getting out of the depot as motorists did their best to give way, he said: "What concerns me are the firefighters who have to turn into the station from their home addresses in normal vehicles.

"They have to be here in four minutes and some of them really struggle in the first place. This could mean another two or three minutes on top of that. If we've got a house fire we need two pumps out as soon as possible."

Traffic problems on the road could also spell problems for Morrisons supermarket on Broughton Road.

But Peter McCarthy, general manager, said he was not overly concerned.

"There is still good access to the store," he said.

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire County Council highways confirmed that the disruption on Broughton Road was due to the Belle Vue Mills redevelopment, which will see the building transformed into a complex for homes, offices, shops and retail units.

She said this would be ongoing until at least June next year and disruption to traffic was expected.

She said the road would not be closed, but measures such as temporary traffic lights could be present at certain times.