DRIVERS have blasted "daft" diversions for forcing them to travel an extra 50 MILES to get around roadworks.
Residents in the village of Melbury Abbas in Dorset face £1,000 fines if they try to use a 1km stretch of road while it's closed for five nights to allow broadband fibre optic cables to be laid.
People who need to travel between Melbury Abbas and Shaftesbury – which is just three miles north of the village – instead need to drive 10 miles south.
They then must join the A350 and go back on themselves.
The diversionary loop is around 50 miles in total and residents have said it will cause significant delays to their journeys.
The only other alternatives are along the tight bends and country lanes which are impossible for larger vehicles to navigate.
Local Jenny Weston said it would cause "traffic chaos" surrounding Melbury Abbas as motorists try to avoid the road closure.
She said: "This will probably cause chaos on the lanes and take longer to get to destination in the process."
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One local resident said: "Are locals really going to use this 50 mile diversion?
"It seems daft to have to drive so far to get to somewhere that is less than a mile away."
Others have said it would be "impossible" for lorries to navigate the tight bends along "Zig Zag Hill".
It is the the only other route that avoids the 50 mile diversion along the A350.
Melbury Abbas was previously dubbed the "Village of the Jammed" as HGVs regularly get stuck along the narrow roads with an average of 18 jams a week.
Alan Perry said: "There is no way a lorry with a trailer will be able to navigate round the tight bends on Zig Zag Hill."
Shirley Ball added: "Let's hope no articulated lorries try the Zig Zag option."
A local resident said: "This will mean a great deal of traffic along Zig Zag hill and the A350. It's going to have very big implications."
One man – who wished not to be named – said his daughter kept sheep on the section of road which will be closed.
He said it will be "impossible" for her to reach them by car in the next five days.
He said: "How is she going to get to them?
A spokesman for the local Dorset Council said: "Any person who uses or permits the use of a vehicle in contravention of the notice will be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000. This is based on standard council policy."
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