TRAFFIC chiefs are fine-tuning their emergency procedures for dealing with burst water mains in Weymouth - to try and avoid roads chaos during the 2012 Olympics.

A major water main in Preston Road has burst twice in the last year and other mains in Littlemoor Road and Dorchester Road have also burst in recent days.

Now Dorset County Council is ensuring it is stepping up emergency measures as part of a £16 million package for transport improvements in the town.

And Wessex Water has said it will repair the troublesome Preston Road water main and inspect other key mains across Weymouth.

There was traffic chaos - and several homes and a doctor's surgery were flooded - when the high-pressure Preston Road water main burst on April 15.

Around 180 litres of water per second gushed into the road at Chalbury Corner, felling traffic lights and lifting pavement slabs.

Debris from the burst was strewn across the Tarmac and Preston Road was closed, leaving motorists facing two-hour delays to get to Dorchester.

The traffic chaos was aggravated because the incident coincided with highways improvements in Dorchester Road and the throat-slashing attack in Queen Street.

County council traffic chiefs say the disruption could have been far worse if key staff had not got to the scene so quickly to manage the situation. Weymouth and Portland Borough Council highway engineer Alan Muncaster and his team introduced diversion signs and used sandbags to stop further flooding.

The same 12-inch main burst back in October 2007, causing similar chaos and leaving around 60 homes without water.

Traffic chiefs were worried it could happen again in the busy summer months - or during the Olympic sailing events in 2012.

So county council and borough council staff met with Dorset Police and Wessex Water representatives to discuss lessons learnt from the incidents.

Paul Coggins, from Wessex Water, said the Preston Road main has been analysed, plans are in place to improve it and other key mains are also under scrutiny.

And Dorset County Council also plans to build a control centre for the county's entire road network to monitor incidents such as the burst water main.

Network traffic control manager Peter Speroni is working with key police, council and Wessex Water staff on the development of the system.

County council transport spokesman Col Geoffrey Brierley said: "We're planning to invest substantially in Weymouth's transport infrastructure over the next few years.

"This work will greatly help us manage emergency situations and major events such as 2012.

"It's crucial that we work together with the borough council, utilities and emergency services throughout this planning stage so that we understand the issues and are prepared for the potential problems."