ONE of Bournemouth's most influential businessmen has hit out at council officers for the chaos already being caused by the closure of the busy A338.

Richard Carr, chairman of Future 3000 Plc, says he was caught up in the tailbacks for two-and-a-half hours on Saturday night (August 21) and claims the roadworks are no good for Bournemouth's tourism industry.

The offside lanes of the Spur Road between Ringwood and Bournemouth were closed on Saturday for five days as highway engineers prepare for major roadworks at the Blackwater Junction.

These begin on September 5 and Dorset County Council has promised they will be finished in time for the Christmas shopping season.

They include inspection and repairs to the dual carriage-way bridge over the River Stour and the B3073 Black-water Bridge flyover.

Also taking place is resurfacing of the slip-roads and a revamp of the B3073 Hurn Road.

The preparatory works over the weekend gave a big indication of the chaos likely to be caused when the main work begins in September.

Mr Carr said: "On Saturday it took me two-and-a-half hours to get from Ringwood to the Cooper Dean roundabout. Why carry out these preliminary works on a Saturday - the change-over for the tourism industry?

"These roadworks are not good for Bournemouth's tourism. It should be done in winter or at night like they do in London.

"But here we have to do it during the busiest tourism season. The council says tourism is the lifeblood of Bournemouth but insist on closing the main artery to the town."

The first phase of the scheme will see the southbound carriageway and slip-roads closed with a contraflow in place which will be reversed for the second stage of the works. A temporary 40mph speed limit will be imposed on the contraflow and the approaches from each direction.

David Gibb, head of highways client services for Dorset County Council, said: "We have got to find a sufficient period of three and a half months to complete these works.

"But we have to try and find a balance between the best time to carry out the work and the least level of inconvenience caused to the travelling public."

He said carrying work out at night would cause a problem with obtaining materials such as concrete and Tarmac and a noise issue to nearby residents.

Mr Gibb said that carrying out the work in winter would cause problems because of the effect of the weather on the waterproofing work that needs to be carried out.

First published: August 24