MOTORISTS using one of Clydebank’s busiest roads have been saddled with “appalling” disruption at the same spot for the third time in just over a year.

West Dunbartonshire Council reduced the A814 Dumbarton Road to one lane to enable “emergency repairs” to a dip in the road at the junction of Cable Depot Road on Friday – although no work was carried out for four days.

The authority also closed the side road while awaiting utility Scottish Water assessing the site.

Scottish Water engineers finally turned up on Tuesday morning but have not yet determined who was responsible.

A dip which has opened up on the road is on the seam of the last Scottish Water repair job, and just a few feet from major work undertaken in July 2016.

There is no estimate from the council or Scottish Water when the road will re-open fully.

Clydebank politicians have blasted the delay and laid the blame squarely on Scottish Water.

Waterfront Councillor Marie McNair said: “This is absolutely appalling that Scottish Water have failed to fix this road, and have again been called in to sort their mess.

“This is a common problem with utilities companies that they never seem to put the road back to the way they found it.

“As a driver, I share the frustrations of the many other motorists who use this road on a regular basis, and are again being inconvenienced by these works.

“This is really not acceptable and Scottish Water really need to pull the finger out and get this road fixed properly once and for all.”

Fellow Clydebank Waterfront Cllr Danny Lennie added the situation was “a disgrace”.

He told the Post: “How many attempts do you need to do a repair? It is unacceptable drivers and residents are facing this disruption yet again.

“Given that the failed repair is on the main road through Clydebank it should have been top priority to get it fixed and not a ‘we will try again to fix it when we get round to it’. It needs sorted now and fixed properly.”

A WDC spokesman said: “Scottish Water has attended the site of the dip in the road surface on the A814 in Clydebank at Cable Depot Road.

“The firm’s engineers are trying to establish the exact cause of the fault with a view to having the situation remedied as quickly as possible.

“In the meantime, the junction of Cable Depot Road and Dumbarton Road will remain closed and a small stretch of the A814 will remain reduced to one lane.”

Clydebank MSP Gil Paterson said: “I hope Scottish Water can get this sorted out as soon as possible so we can get traffic moving smoothly again. This section of Dumbarton Road is particularly busy and excessive roadworks cause my constituents unnecessary disruption.”

A Scottish Water spokesman said: “Scottish Water has attended the location and is in contact with West Dunbartonshire Council on this matter. Work is ongoing to identify the cause of the issue.”

In July 2016, Scottish Water began three months of work to upgrade the sewer network at the junction with Cable Depot Road, restricting access to the side street.

But in June 2017, the Post alerted the council after the road began to dip by several inches. Within hours, a hole had opened up and a lane was closed.