A HIGHWAYS boss says there was no alternative to emergency roadworks, starting tomorrow in York, which are set to cause major disruption for motorists.

Stuart Partington, City of York council's highways and street operations engineer, said the work in Fulford Road was needed to repair a collapsed private sewer connected to the main sewer.

"There is potential for raw sewage to cause a public health problem and we simply cannot leave the work," he said.

"We appreciate that these works will affect people's journeys into work and apologise for any delays. We will try to ensure that everything is done as quickly as possible and that the disruption is kept to the absolute minimum."

The work, which starts at 9.30am at the junction of Fishergate and Fulford Road, is expected to last five days, during which 24-hour two-way temporary lights will operate in Fulford Road just south of the junction with Cemetery Road. Traffic from Cemetery Road will continue to be able to feed into Fulford Road.

Updated: 09:32 Monday, January 03, 2005