A TESCO boss has revealed the impact of the A64 roadworks on his York store and thanked the Evening Press for campaigning to Get York Moving again.

David Marks, manager of the supermarket at Askham Bar, said jams caused by the nearby contraflow at Copmanthorpe had caused severe disruption to both staff and customers.

He said trade at the store had been down by about ten per cent since the congestion started at the beginning of September, although this had partly been compensated for by an increase in Internet orders for food.

The impact of the works had been strongest on customers coming along the A64 to get to the store.

And there had been a noticeable increase in business at Tesco's store at Seacroft, on the outskirts of Leeds, as some customers apparently went the other way along the A64 to go shopping.

He said many members of staff had been affected in trying to get to and from work.

"It is taking me an hour and a half to get to work from Pocklington along the A1079 and A64, more than an hour longer than normal," he said.

Mr Marks said he wanted to thank the Evening Press for highlighting the roadworks problems, and pressing the Highways Agency for changes to alleviate the congestion.

He said he believed the pressure from the paper had helped persuade the agency to come up with a series of proposals last weekend, including the introduction of Sunday working to get the project finished more quickly.

He welcomed another measure now set to be adopted by the agency, under which the westbound carriageway will be split into two separate lanes.

This will allow traffic wanting to go into York via Tadcaster Road as Mr Marks does on his journey to work avoid being held up by the jams tailing back along the dual carriageway from Copmanthorpe.

Another measure under consideration by the agency and police is the possible introduction of two lanes of traffic in each direction during phase two of the roadworks scheme next year, when the westbound carriageway is closed.

David Phillips, the agency officer in charge of the Copmanthorpe project, said yesterday it would be another fortnight before it was possible to say whether the extra lanes could be created within various safety criteria.

The agency and police were currently considering the matter carefully.

He added it was possible that two lanes could be created in one direction, but with only one lane in the other.

Updated: 08:39 Thursday, November 01, 2001