Villagers have been left angry and frustrated as they face the prospect of a major road being closed again for another four months to pave the way for a new £30 million school.
People living in Tatenhill and surrounding villages have endured Branston Road being closed for the best part of a year while the infrastructure is changed ready for the opening of the John Taylor Free School in September 2018.
The road is currently closed and was due to open next week but the re-opening has now been put back until December 6 following the discovery of the telecoms cable located within the new drainage works.
The major works have involved the removal of an existing road, construction of a new road and roundabout, and a new footway and cycleway.
The road is now due to be closed again from January 2 to May 15, 2018, and residents are saying they have been "patient enough." They attended a meeting at Tatenhill Village Hall en masse after meeting at The Horseshoe Inn to make their voices heard over the inconvenience.
Roger Wetherill, of Henhurst Hill, said: "I do use that road and it is a complete nightmare being shut for so long. I come to the village daily and it definitely adds more time to my journeys."
Fred Scott, of Main Street, Tatenhill, said: "It is a nuisance and is putting miles on my journey to work. I normally shop at Morrisons but that takes longer to get to. It is inconvenient.
"We sometimes have a Chinese but we cannot have that now. We have to go elsewhere as we cannot go where we want to go. They are not working on the road at weekends or night, I think they could be doing more. It is ridiculous.
"I don't think that the council is being very fair. All the traffic going out of the village has to go towards the Acorn pub and use that crossing which can be difficult. You have to cross all the traffic which makes it doubly difficult.
"My wife had her car written off in an accident there not too long ago. It has impacted me personally, the amount of traffic which is getting pushed through the town. With St Peter's Bridge being closed as well, you now have people coming down Cadley Hill and into Barton to avoid it. They could have done things better."
Simon Chamber, president of the Burton Chamber of Commerce, who lives in Anslow, said: "I am shocked to see the road closure planned for such a great period of time. It does not need to be closed on a permanent basis. The council's decision is affecting the livelihoods of local businesses as well as the environment with people trying to get to work.
"The more miles and driving is creating more pollution because of the additional fuel being used to drive across the countryside. There is no need for a major road into town to be closed for such a long period of time."
Rosina Kidd, from Lightwood Road, Yoxall, uses the route to go to Burton. She said the closure had made traffic conditions in Barton under Needwood and Henhurst Hill a "nightmare."
She said: "It is not just once that the road has been closed but it has been several times and it has gone on long enough now. It must be more of a nightmare for people who live in the village. It adds extra miles and time on to their morning and evening just to go to work.
"I am retired and have all the time in the world but it still affects us."
Debbie Holmes, of Main Street, Tatenhill, said: "I live in the village and sometimes work from home but sometimes I need to get out of town to get on the A38 north and I have to go the long way round. With St Peter's Bridge being closed you are always competing with the traffic.
"You think there is some light at the end of the tunnel and then they are going to do it again next year. It is shocking. It is a long drive just to nip to the shops. It feels like we are living miles out of Burton when we don't."
Mark Jones, of Main Street, Tatenhill, said: "It is outrageous. In the space of two years I believe it has been closed for nearly a year and it has cost time and money in terms of petrol. The whole organisation has been terrible from the outset and the school should never have been built there in the first place.
"It should have been built on Lawns Farm in my opinion as all of the infrastructure would not have been changed and it would not have impacted the village as much as it has done."
Glyn and Susan Golding, of Branston Road, live directly next to the new school and say they have builders outside the house from 7.30am. They said they had endured months of noise and workmen outside their home, making it difficult for them to get out of the drive.
They said: "It is just a shambles. Our bungalow is right next to school and we have lived there for 17 years. We think the new school looks really ugly, it looks like a factory. We have had a building site outside our house for six weeks now. It is horrible.
"Normally when we need to get to work at Centrum 100 it takes two minutes but now it takes 15 minutes or more and I have to do it two or three times. We have had this for 12 months now."
Brenda Bates, of Branston Road, said: "My son lives in Branston and in an emergency he can get to me in a matter of minutes. Now he has to come up Shobnall Road or all the way around Barton. It is most inconvenient.
"I live in Branston Road and this new school is going to affect us so much as there is going so much more traffic. I am not very happy about it but what can you do? By the time it comes to next May it will be nearly 12 months altogether."
Tatenhill parish councillor John Fawn said the authority had been opposed to the school due to the site's archaeological heritage dating back to the Bronze Age and the anticipated traffic problems.
He said: "The next problem is going to be when the school starts to open as over the next three years the traffic is going to build up. It is difficult getting on the A38 as it is and my calculation is that 78 per cent of the kids will come by car due to where the school is.
"It is in the wrong place but unfortunately we have got it now."
Rob Walker, of Branston Road, has been trying to sell his house so he can be closer to his job in Leeds but he fears more closures of the road will simply delay a potential sale.
He said: "It is ridiculous. Now we will have it closed for another three months in the new year. I am shocked a councillor did not show up tonight, they knew they were going to get a rough ride and there was very poor attendance at the previous meetings."
A spokesman for Staffordshire County Council said they had representatives at the meeting from the highways teams. The engineers fielded questions from the public and will be providing feedback to comments.
Councillor Helen Fisher, the council's cabinet support member for highways and transport, said: "These works are essential to ensure the entire infrastructure is in place to serve the new school, businesses and future residents. Not only are we constructing a new road and roundabout, we are also installing services, traffic signs, street lighting and marking out the roads.
"The discovery of this unmarked cable in the road means we will need to do extra work, causing the road closure to continue until December. We realise that any road closure and diversion can cause disruption, but our engineers are working hard to ensure this is kept at a minimum."
