Traffic jams outside his constituency office prompted a plea by MP Steve Barclay to the utility firm responsible - Anglia Water - to speed things up.

Anglia Water is replacing the cast iron water main which they say will mean fewer interruptions to the local water supply.

Mr Barclay, the MP for NE Cambs, said: “Anglia Water digging up the road outside my office on the A141 is a good way to remind me of the disruption to local businesses and residents.

“I know the delays are hugely frustrating and I have been chasing up the latest information to encourage this work to be done as soon as possible.

“The latest information I have is that the roadworks will last eight weeks whilst the main water pipes are replaced,

“I will continue to reinforce the need for the work to be completed as soon as possible.”

The work began on April 24 and is scheduled to run until June.

Anglia Water said in a statement on their website that “the replacement of this main will mean fewer interruptions to your water supply and the new main will also require less maintenance.

“Traffic lights will be in place whilst we carry out this work and will be manned between 7am and 7pm seven days a week.

“We fully appreciate it must seem frustrating that we need to use temporary traffic lights that are sometimes in operation especially when it may seem like there is no-one on sit working.

“This is to allow the reinstatement of the excavation enough time to ‘cure’ and be safe for road users to drive over.

“There are of course also health and safety reasons around open excavations too.

“We are aware the traffic congestion will be an issue, this is why we are manning the traffic management or 12 hours a day and have displayed signs before and during the job.”

The statement added: “We have delivered letters to residents in advance, met with the affected businesses.

“There will also be a supervisor based on site who will be happy to answer any concerns or pass any concerns on to the engineers in charge.”

Mr Barclay shared his angst on his Facebook page and some were less than sympathetic.

“Truth is it’s outside your office so you think they should hurry up and not the fact that it’s causing disruption to the public,” said one post.

Another said: “Because it directly affects you, you decide to get involved.”

And a third response queried: “What about when it’s crippling a small business financially? Like recently on Weasenham Lane in Wisbech? “The road still isn’t repaired properly, and businesses are told they can claim losses for the disruption from county council but when they try they get spun.”