TRAFFIC chaos caused when a swing bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Apperley Bridge stuck for the second time in a week has been branded “a perfect storm.”

The bridge wedged open at about 4pm on Wednesday leaving people stranded despite being able to see their homes.

Transport manager David Lazenby, from Apperley Road, said a road closure in Hemingway Road due to work going on for a new housing development had not helped.

Sewerage pipes for the Simpson Green are currently being laid in work expected to take a further five weeks.

Mr Lazenby said: “When the application was put in and knowing that Hemingway Road would have to be closed while they put the utilities in and sewers etc, many of us asked what would happen when the swing bridge broke.

“It’s now happened and it’s chaos. It broke last week too.”

Mr Lazenby said he was in the jam for at least an hour-and-a-half and could see six or seven cars abandoned.

“I had a boot full of shopping that was all defrosting. “I could see my house but could not get to it and couldn’t carry all the shopping there.

“There was no point turning round and trying to get up Harrogate Road and via Greengates because that is gridlocked at this time of night. The only option for me was to wait.”

He said a Canal & River Trust engineer arrived to repair the bridge at about 6.15pm.

Ward Councillor Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) said: “I have been inundated with calls complaining about their journey times and when the bridge broke it created a perfect storm.

“I believe there are three problems: Northern Gas Networks seem to have more holes than ever, Hemingway Road is now closed, although we did successfully delay that until the summer holidays, and while Bradford Council took money from the Simpson Green development to upgrade the Greengates traffic lights, that’s not been done.”

A Canal & River Trust spokesperson said:”We are sorry that the swing bridge at Apperley Bridge broke recently and we apologise for any inconvenience that it caused to the local community and boaters alike. Our mechanical team attended the scene as quickly as they could to fix it and we will continue to monitor the bridge to ensure that it is in good working order.