The Wombles - Why All The Traffic Jams?

The other day whilst travelling through Northampton on the M1, I noticed the Highways Agency, the men in fluorescent jackets that we call the Wombles hard at it!

That’s cocking up every poor soul’s journey north for nearly 20 miles and several hours. These plonks of the road that patrol in their battenberg 4X4s, bored (as they don’t have the power to stop speeding motorists) jump at every opportunity to behave like excited do-gooders and, in the process, screw up!

A lorry had caught fire going north, but the driver had the foresight to get his vehicle well onto the hard shoulder. The Fire Brigade had extinguished the flames and there wasn’t a puff of smoke in site. However, the Wombles had decided to shut all three lanes and then proceeded to stand around congratulating each other for a job well done.

Even a fireman told me that they could have kept two lanes open hours earlier and added that these guys are like boy scouts... But, because they are the Highways Agency, they have control over road closures.

I have also seen them shut lanes just to recover a lorry’s broken mirror! Honestly! I think I speak for the thousands stuck in traffic that day when I say that the job of the Highways Agency should be to keep the motorways running smoothly, not to leave people stranded for hours.