Cambridgeshire village ‘like being trapped in The Prisoner TV show’

Cambridgeshire residents are comparing their lives to being trapped inside the 1960s TV show The Prisoner after two out of three roads leaving their village were closed.

People in Burwell, Cambridgeshire, are being sent on a 20 mile detour to reach their neighbouring village and complaining that if they do manage to escape they have up to an hour added to their journeys.

They have been unable to travel to Fordham, less than four miles away, since Wednesday (August 1) without taking the 20 mile diversion.

This is because Anglian Water has closed Ness Road - which leads to Fordham, Soham and routes to Ely - and gas distribution network Cadent has blocked Burwell Road, which travels through Exning to Newmarket, leaving only a road toward Cambridge still open.

One resident took to social media to say: “Does anyone remember that old TV programme called The Prisoner? The main character, although seemingly free, was being held captive in a village from which he couldn’t escape. I think they are remaking the series using Burwell as the village.”

In the show, prisoners would be followed by an inflatable ball to keep them from leaving.

One villager quipped: ” Don’t need the big red ball, the roadworks are doing a good enough job of keeping us captive… we should form an escape committee.”

A driver complained on social media it had taken an hour to travel to Soham, which is just six miles away.

Another asked about the bus services: “Are they going via Scunthorpe?”

The detour published by the one.network platform is 32.8 km (around 20 miles) and is expected to take 34 minutes.

Cambridgeshire County Council Highways department explained: “We received an emergency road closure for Ness Road in Burwell yesterday afternoon for a visible leak on a main. We were informed that this was urgent works and our Streetworks Inspector attended the site to see a large amount of water running down the road.

“Unfortunately, a road closure is the only safe form of traffic management they are able to use at this moment in time as the works are in the middle of the carriageway.

Anglian Water have put in place the best possible diversion route which consists of the A142 – A1304 – A1303 B1102, this is available to the general public (online) via one.network.

“There was a granted permit which has been in place since 31/07/2023, this was originally under some carriageway incursion, however, the traffic management was changed to a road closure once the severity of the situation has progressed.

“We have duration challenged their works back to 04/08/2023 so we anticipate that the works will be complete by end of play Friday.

“Cadent have a closure on Burwell Road, Exning which is under Suffolk’s jurisdiction. Suffolk County Council are also aware, however, Cadent are unable to lift their closure but vehicles should be following the same diversion route for this closure too.”

A spokesperson for Anglian Water said: “We are sorry for any traffic disruption between Burwell and Fordham today. Anglian Water attended an emergency burst water main in the area which was more challenging and complex than initially anticipated and as such we closed the road for safety reasons with full knowledge and permission of the local authority.

“The issue has now been repaired and teams are moving onsite to back fill and reinstate the road. We expect this work will be concluded and road reopened by the end of this week. We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused to road users whilst we carry out the emergency works.”