FED-UP Lydiate Ash residents say they were given no notice of A38 roadworks that are making their lives a misery.

A residents’ group has contacted the Advertiser with a statement over a number of concerns they have about the ongoing works, particularly night-time noise and disturbance.

Worcestershire County Council has apologised to residents if they did not receive advance notice of the works, citing Covid-19 issues as a reason, but says the works are a ‘strategic priority’.

The residents’ statement to the Advertiser said: “We were provided with no consultation and no notification relating to the commencement of the works or the duration of the works.

“Let alone the overnight works which actually commenced on 14 September resulting in much noise and disruption to local residents throughout the night and into the mid early morning.

“While we agree improvements to Bromsgrove’s road networks are essential, this scheme is just a short-term sticking plaster and the money would have been better spent on a proper long-term eastern bypass solution.

“This scheme, in our opinion, has been pushed through without proper due diligence with regards to its actual benefit to the district let alone the outskirt community and local green belt environment.

“Clearly the removal of mature planting along the A38 carriageway, and widening of road lanes, has exposed the area to not only increased noise level from the carriageway but also the motorway.”

A group spokesperson said she had also been irked having contacted a member of Worcestershire County Council’s highways team.

She added: “He claims the overnight works are not noisy works – really? Drilling, scraping roads, vehicles bleeping, workman shouting, this is not noisy!?

“He also claimed that due to COVID they could not send out letters to local residents? Really?!”

In response, a Worcestershire County Council spokesperson said: “Improving the A38 between J4 and J5 of the M5 is a strategic priority for Worcestershire County Council, GBSLEP (Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, WLEP (Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership) and the Department for Transport.

“It is one of Worcestershire’s most important routes and suffers from congestion leading to lengthy and unreliable journey times.

“For schemes of this kind, we notify residents ahead of work starting via local media, our social media channels, the Council’s website where there is a dedicated page, on site signage and, for residents who might be most directly affected, due to prolonged overnight noise, via letter-drops.

“We acknowledge there have been difficulties following our normal policy of delivering letters during the Covid-19 outbreak.

“We apologise if any residents have experienced overnight noise that they were not informed about. Regarding residual traffic noise resulting from a new scheme, the impact is assessed before works starts and mitigation measures are put in place where needed.”

After residents also flagged ongoing problems with excessive car and commercial parking on Lydiate Ash Road, including double parking, the council says plans are in place to extend yellow lines and increase restrictions on overnight parking for HGVs and large vehicles.