Another night of commuter hell as bumper-to-bumper traffic clogs Northampton's Brackmills estate

For the third night in a row, a line of backed-up of red tail lights and idling engines was all that could be seen on Pavillion Drive, Caswell Road, Roshili Road and the A45 Nene Valley Way this evening (Nov 6).

Tonight's trouble was partially caused by a stalled vehicle on the M1 at J15 - but commuters and lorry drivers leaving Brackmills know the severe congestion on the drive home has become a reoccurring nightmare in the working week.

The Chronicle and Echo spoke to some drivers who had been waiting in the bumper-to-bumper traffic for nearly an hour.

"It's a bit of a nightmare," said one woman who was waiting to leave the car park opposite Barclaycard on Pavillion Drive. "I clocked off at 5pm and have been here for 45 minutes.

"It's just life, really. Everyone knows there's nothing they can do about it. Everyone's in a rush.

"I'm sure there's something that could be done about this. It happens too often. Maybe once a week at best."

The traffic jams have evidentially become a problem drivers are used to do. Many motorists the Chron spoke to used the time to watch Netflix and other streaming services on their phones while idling.

Others were daunted by how long they knew they would be stuck there.

One man said: "I've been here 40 minutes. It's going to be another half an hour at least to get out and then it's an hour's drive to Coventry.

"I left work at 5pm. I'll probably get home by 7.15pm at the earliest. But what can you do?"

The past three nights of congestion have come as work has begun on the Cliftonville Corridor in town centre, which often only creates a second-front of queueing traffic for anyone leaving Brackmills and travelling through town.

"It's just so annoying," said one man. "You just waste so much time and move about 10 metres in half an hour."