Work on a major roundabout for Bingley's £47.9 million relief road is being blamed for causing commuter chaos.

Motorists travelling along Bradford Road near Cottingley have faced traffic queues and huge delays because of temporary traffic lights by the Ramada Jarvis Bankfield Hotel.

Evening work was done by Yorkshire Electricity to redirect service cables under the road to allow future work to be done on slip roads to the roundabout. It resulted in one lane being open at a time.

A commuter who travels to Bradford from Crossflatts every day said his journey home was doubled from half an hour to an hour because of the delays.

"The traffic queues all the way back to Saltaire roundabout in one direction and way past Beckfoot School in the other," said the estate agent, who did not want to be named.

"If I didn't need my car for my job I'd take the train. This is just a nightmare that I have to sit through at the end of a very long day."

Amec project manager Charly Clark said the work was an essential part of the construction process.

"The statutory authorities have to redirect their services before we can start diverting traffic on to the slip road to the roundabout so we can begin the work that has to be done in that area," he said.

A Highways Agency spokesman said work was carried out over three nights.

"The use of temporary traffic lights was restricted to night time only," she said.

"It is likely there will be a short period of further traffic management in a few months' time when work begins to tie in the new road to the existing carriageway."

An update of the project's progress was yesterday on display at Bingley Arts Centre where youngsters were also praised for their artistic impressions of the road.

Bingley artist Jane Fielder, whose LS Lowry-style paintings have also featured construction workers and diggers, presented children from Myrtle Park, Priestthorpe and Trinity All Saints primary schools with certificates and prizes for their efforts.