Totton has made a formal protest to Southampton over road works that are causing gridlock and damaging the town's economy.

Furious councillors say repairs to Redbridge Road, Millbrook, should be carried out at night to end the traffic chaos that has hit the area.

Totton is surrounded by endless queues of slow-moving vehicles for much of the day following the start of the project which was scheduled to take a month, but is now set to finish a fortnight early, by February 9.

The biggest tailbacks occur during the morning rush hour, when traffic grinds to a halt as thousands of commuters try to enter Southampton.

People heading for Totton and Hythe use some of the same roads and are also caught up in the jams caused by gas pipeline maintenance work.

Fed up drivers say it often takes them more than an hour to make a journey that is normally completed in minutes.

Complaints about the congestion and its impact on Totton were aired at a meeting of the town council's planning and transport advisory committee.

Members were particularly concerned about the weekly market, where trade is likely to plummet

if shoppers stay away from Totton to avoid the jams.

Now town clerk Derek Biggs has sent a hard-hitting letter to Southampton's head of transport, Rod Anderson. The letter says Totton's economy has already suffered as a result of other highway schemes in Southampton over the past 18 months.

It adds: "Very little residential property adjoins the current road works. I'm surprised your council has not considered night-time working, which would have prevented the current traffic congestion and would have been economically more viable for Totton and Southampton shopping."

Mr Biggs told the Daily Echo: "Totton is gridlocked for about 70 per cent of the day. The market is suffering because stallholders can't get in and customers aren't bothering. WestQuay will also be affected if Salisbury seems a better option."

Businesses hit by the congestion include Totton Timber, where trade is down 30 per cent. A spokesman said: "Customers can get out of Southampton, but they're not going to sit in a queue for at least an hour trying to get back in."

Southampton City Council is strengthening and resurfacing Redbridge Road between Redbridge Flyover and Parkside Avenue.