Miserable motorists and peeved pedestrians have been left in a jam after a ‘perfect storm’ of roadworks and pavement work has engulfed Hitchin this month.

As many as nine different service providers and contractors are involved in digging up roads and pathways in and around the town – including BT, Affinity Water, National Grid Gas, Herts County Council, Gas Transportation, Virgin Media, Orange, Ringway, and UK Power Networks.

UK Power Networks spokeswoman Jessica Gallagher explained: “We’re currently carrying out work in three areas of Hitchin, two in Bancroft and one in Hawthorn Close.

“Two of these jobs are to connect new customers to the electricity network.

“The third is to replace a piece of equipment in our underground network.

“In Bancroft the work is being carried out within the pavement and not in the road so traffic should not be affected.

“In Hawthorn Close the work is mainly being carried out in the footway but this could also encroach on to the road.

“Wherever our work is carried out we always liaise with the local council to ensure we have permission to proceed.

“If the work is a planned investment scheme and not an emergency repair, we also work with other utilities to ensure we can all work in the same place at the same time in a bid to cause the least disruption to motorists and residents.”

Councillor Terry Douris, Herts County Council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “We’re committed having a strong, resilient and successful economy supported by an efficient and reliable transport network and appropriate infrastructure.

“Our roads are very busy, and well-maintained roads and footpaths are very important – our works programmes are carefully calculated.”

Hitchin mum-of-four Catherine Condon added: “It’s so frustrating to be caught up in traffic caused by all these roadworks currently going on – it does seem like the perfect storm.”