'Chaos' as overnight roadworks shut main road between Northampton and Milton Keynes 'without warning'

The A508 is shut to through traffic overnight between Roade and Cosgrove for surface dressing in stages until August 26, after work began on Wednesday (July 31).

Traffic, including articulated lorries which almost jack-knifed, had to turn around on a 'dangerous' corner near Roade because of the closure from around 8pm on Wednesday night.

That was apparently made worse at around 3am on Thursday morning when traffic was diverted onto the A508 from the M1 after a separate closure on the motorway, causing more gridlock.

"Does nobody coordinate these road closures?" Phil Burton asked on Twitter, as there were apparently no signs that the road to Old Stratford was closed.

A Northamptonshire County Council spokesman said work is taking place on the A508 as part of its highways team's surface dressing road-repair programme.

“Various stretches of the road between Roade and Cosgrove will receive a treatment with off-peak closures needed for the work to be carried out," he added.

“Parish councils were notified in advance and signage erected to notify of the closures.”

The programme will then move onto other roads across the county, including the A45, A43, A428, A361, A509 and A508, until the end of August.