EAST Cowes Cllr, Karl Love, has spoken out over road works taking place in his town ­— labelling it "total road and parking chaos".

Road works are underway in East Cowes as part of a project to rebuild and resurface part of York Avenue, and Mr Love is critical of the impact it is having on parking in the town.

"Not only is York Ave completely closed, resulting in diversions down Saunders way, Beatrice Avenue, Victoria Avenue and Adelaide Road, but we also have resurfacing works on a significant number of side roads as well," said Cllr Love.

"I have requested that the Jubilee recreation ground be used for parking off-road to help residents, but I am still waiting for a response.

"Naturally, I have raised the issue with both Ian Ward and Island Roads.

"I’ve never seen such road chaos in our town before.

"The priority must be to get York Avenue open as soon as possible because it is an arterial road."

The next phase of a project to rebuild and resurface part of York Avenue commenced on Thursday.

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Another to voice concerns is one East Cowes resident, who says "putting signs on people's cars and then towing them away a handful of hours later is ludicrous".

He said: "I was able to move my car, and I also emailed Island Roads who explained, however, it shouldn’t be down to the residents contacting them.

"They should be telling us.

"I just don’t think it’s right. The way it’s been handled is so, so poor, but someone has to say something otherwise they’ll never learn."

In a statement released on Friday, Island Roads said: "Residents and local councillors were first informed about the works due to take place in York Avenue at the end of May.

"As much of the work as possible has been completed under traffic lights but the final section, which requires a deeper excavation, now needs to be completed under a road closure for the safety of the public and the crews working on site.

"Notification of this road closure was also issued in mid-June.

“The work is being undertaken at a time when the roads are quieter due to Covid-19 and reduced traffic flows due to the fewer ferry sailings.

"It is hoped that the work will be completed in two weeks and we thank local residents for their patience while this work is completed.”