Transport Secretary John Prescott has stepped in to end the nightmare caused by major work on Bradford's bridges.

The Government has urged Railtrack to get on with the work at Valley Road, Laisterdyke, and Cleckheaton Road.

Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe, who put a question to the House about the crises, said today it was causing "untold difficulties" to companies and members of the public and should be dealt with urgently.

Mr Prescott, Transport and Environment Secretary for the Region, has ordered that pressure should be put on Railtrack to complete the work.

A Railtrack spokeswoman said the company was undertaking repairs as quickly as it could, but it dealt with more than 5,000 bridges nationwide. And she denied that Railtrack, which is responsible for track and bridge maintenance, had failed to liaise with Bradford Council.

The bridges are being strengthened to comply with directives from Europe to make it possible for juggernauts to use them.

It means thousands of passengers having to use buses diverted onto other routes as they are banned from busy Valley Road.

The traffic-choked Cleck-heaton Road bridge has been down to a single lane for almost a year and a half. Eric Aird, partner at Oakenshaw Service Centre which sells cars and offers services and car maintenance, said traffic queues dissuaded potential business from coming to the garage.

"It's ridiculous. They haven't even started work yet.''

The Railtrack spokesman said work would start on the Cleckheaton Road bridge in spring 2000; the Laisterdyke bridge works were underway and would finish in the autumn; the Valley Road bridge was still being assessed and there was no date for work to start.

She said Bradford Council, not Railtrack, was responsible for shutting roads when bridges were deemed to need repair.

Today, chairman of the Council's Highways Committee, Councillor Phil Thornton, said he was delighted that Mr Sutcliffe has stepped in.

The Canal Road buses diverted through Windhill Estate and onto Manningham Lane were causing serious problems, especially to elderly people.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.