A daily newspaper has launched a campaign to highlight the problems caused by roadworks in the town it serves.

The Ipswich Star’s Roadworks Watch campaign aims shine a spotlight on minor road repairs which are causing excessive delays.

Readers are being urged to contact the Star about problems they face and send in pictures of disruptive roadworks where no work actually seems to be taking place.

The campaign was launched after Suffolk County Council revealed a project aimed at easing traffic flows in Ipswich which started in summer 2012 won’t be completed until next year, which provided a splash for the newspaper on Tuesday, pictured below.

Editor Brad Jones said: “We hear too many stories of people getting stuck in heavy traffic on the approaches to Ipswich, and the anecdotal evidence is that it’s getting worse.

“Our town’s road network appears to be so fragile – the smallest road repairs can cause chaos, not just at that location, but on other nearby roads as drivers try – and usually fail – to find a quicker route. So we want to shine a spotlight on roadworks in Ipswich.

“Of course, roadworks are necessary. But are they being done as swiftly, efficiently, and with the least amount of disruption to motorists? Are different sets of roadworks being coordinated to minimise problems? In many cases they may be, but we’re not convinced.

“We’ve all found ourselves in huge tailbacks, only to reach the supposed roadworks to find it’s just a load of bollards with no work taking place. We want readers to tell us what they think is going wrong – and show us the examples.

“It’s important everyone works together – that includes the highways authority and utility companies which often have to dig up the road – to improve the situation for the benefit of Ipswich.”