A one-way system is set to be trialled in a bid to improve traffic near a business park where commuters say they have suffered “ridiculous” delays during roadworks.

The scheme will be trialled in Cressex Road, High Wycombe, from Monday, March 18, in the hope of creating better traffic flows while improvement work is being done at the Cressex Link crossroads.

Frustrated commuters raged that hundreds of people are being “held hostage” on Cressex Business Park because of the improvement works.

The £750,000 improvement scheme, which started in January, involved closing Cressex Road on both sides of the crossroads, and controlling north-south traffic with temporary lights between 9.30am and 3.30pm.

Wycombe District Council (WDC) said following feedback from commuters and businesses who complained that the work - combined with other emergency roadworks nearby, was delaying drivers getting out of the business park during evening peak hours, council officers looked at “possible solutions”.

The two-week trial, allowing westbound traffic across the junction, aims to speed up exit from the business park, easing flows through neighbouring roads and creating more room for traffic to move.

Journey times will be monitored during this time and results included in the scheme’s progress bulletins published regularly.

David Johncock, cabinet member for planning and sustainability at WDC, said: “When the scheme is finished, it will benefit journey times for business park workers, but while work is under way I’m afraid delays are unavoidable. However, we’ve responded to feedback and I’m pleased we’re able to trial these adjustments.

“I appreciate that many drivers can’t avoid using the junction during peak times, but staggering work hours, or working from home, would help relieve congestion at this junction while we’re working on it.”

The improvement scheme, which will be finished in May, will provide four Puffin pedestrian crossings, reconfigured traffic lights, two new left-hand turns, and a ban on heavy lorries in Cressex Road.

The scheme is being paid for jointly by Buckinghamshire County and Wycombe District Councils, along with Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership.