If you’re planning to drive through Lydney, bus station end to town hall, which was the old A48 before the by-pass, through Newerne Street, then Hill Street then High Street, please take my advice. Don’t do it. Especially if it’s rush hour.

On a recent visit to the town there was complete gridlock. Stationary traffic. Patient drivers. If my Cheltenham Gold Cup predictions had been correct, I could have jumped out of my car at the Newerne Street bookies to collect my winnings and returned to the car without causing further inconvenience to the long line of stationary traffic behind me. But my chosen horses were not cooperative, so I could not test out this theory,

The flooding River Lyd made a mess of the lower part of Newerne Street last November. Many of the businesses on the eastern side of the river have been put out of business for a while or even permanently (with the sad demise of ‘The Annex’, once the night club centre of the Forest). The flooding seriously damaged Newerne Street bridge, which was completely closed for a couple of months and has still, two months later, shown no signs of being upgraded to full two-lane access.

Gridlock hits the arterial roads of Lydney at critical times. Driving from the east (Highfield Road) the other day, gridlock started half way down Highfield Road). Cars stationary or crawling. Traffic lights apparently permanently on red. Any sign of progress ahead greedily taken up by cars emerging from side streets. No progress. Then a sign of green at the bridge traffic lights ahead. Creep forward. The town car park in Albert Street, the road by the bus station and the exit from the Lidl car park add to the congestion. No progress.

Eventually, we reach the traffic lights. They are on red. It seems for ages. But then – green. Hurray! But nothing moves. The level crossing gates by Lydney Station have just been closed to allow the Parkend Express to speed through the level crossing. But it’s not the Parkend express. It’s the slow train to Norchard which needs lots of encouragement to cross. No progress.

It will be the same until there are two lanes on the River Lyd bridge. Until then - avoid it. Approaching the town centre from the east, we use the Lydney St Mary’s Church exit on a visit to the west of the town, and travel from west Lydney to east Lydney along the bypass. Avoid the bridge.