Community leaders are 'insisting' roadworks take place overnight on the A590 to ensure motorists are not caught up in 'traffic mayhem' again.

Temporary traffic lights were put in place near Booths roundabout at Oubas Hill in Ulverston earlier this month so United Utilities could connect the new McDonald’s development to the water network.

However, the maintenance work resulted in hours of delays on the A590, with traffic queuing from Ulverston town centre to Greenodd roundabout.

One motorist said it took more than two hours to drive from the Dock Museum in Barrow to Ulverston town centre because of the maintenance work.

Construction work was put to a halt and rescheduled after United Utilities contractors and staff faced an 'unprecedented amount of physical and verbal abuse' from drivers caught up in the delays.

The roadworks are expected to resume in the New Year, however, fears have been raised that drivers may face hours worth of queues once again.

Simon Fell, MP for Barrow and Furness, said residents, businesses and commuters cannot be 'put through that farce' again.

He said: "I’ve been in discussions with Highways England about this since the works began.

"They initially requested that the works be carried out at night in order to minimise disruption, but this was deemed unviable.

"The resulting chaos was absolutely awful and so all works have been postponed until January, by which time a new plan will be worked out.

"I am clear that this must take place at night and with traffic lights to minimise disruption.

"Local residents, businesses and commuters can’t be put through that farce again."

Members of Ulverston Town Council are meeting with Mr Fell, South Lakes MP Tim Farron and Highways England to insist works take place overnight and single carriageways are protected.

Councillor Mark Wilson, said Ulverston Town Council may consider taking a more 'aggressive approach' to ensure roadworks create minimal disruption.

"We need to all work together to work out the best way moving forward to complete these repairs," said Cllr Wilson, who is also on South Lakeland District Council.

"Otherwise, there will be thousands of motorists held up in delays.

"We may consider an approach that, if the road is shutdown or causing major disruption, companies may have to pay a charge similar to lane rental schemes in London.

"We may need to adopt a more aggressive stance to prevent any major disruption."

A United Utilities spokesman said: “We are currently discussing the programme of works with other agencies to ensure that when it resumes it causes as little disruption as possible.

"We hope to be able to confirm this in the near future, with work expected to resume in the new year.”

Construction work began on the new McDonald’s at the end of July after more than two years of delays.

A spokesman for McDonald’s previously told The Mail the opening date is subject to change dependent on construction timelines, but that the current plan is for an early December opening.