WORK on a controversial £1 million cycleway scheme along the A39 in West Somerset was halted with immediate effect today amid mounting complaints from the public.

Somerset Council said the project between Dunster and Minehead would not be restarted until it was able to find a way to reduce the impact on traffic.

Last week, the council announced new measures to reduce to a minimum any disruption for the travelling public by varying its traffic control.

It said the changes were in response to ‘local demands’ but it would still be progressing the scheme.

The changes included manual control of temporary traffic lights, a smaller working area at times, and no lights after 2 pm on Fridays.

Now, it has given into public pressure and abandoned the current work and apologised to roasd users who it said were ‘experiencing unacceptable delays’.

A spokesman said: “We are pausing these works with immediate effect until we can resolve some traffic management issues.

“As soon as we have established a programme which reduces the impact on traffic to an acceptable level we will complete the scheme.

“We will update you as soon as possible.”

The work, which started last summer, has caused fury among residents and visitors alike, with traffic jams resulting in two-hour delays.

West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger was scathing in his criticism of the problems and the council’s response to the crisis, which he said was an ‘unthinkable situation’.

The project was aimed at making it easier and safer for people to walk and cycle to and from Minehead.