A NEWPORT woman has called the ongoing Somerton Bridge works an “absolute joke”, saying that work has now started going on overnight "without any prior warning" to residents.

Earlier this week Newport City Council said it will fine Network Rail £2,750 per day for failing to complete works on both Somerton and Cardiff Road rail bridges on time.

Allison Medhurst, 59, who lives on Somerton Lane just next to the building site, said that workers now seem to be going home after a full day on site only to return at night.

She said: "On Tuesday evening I came in from work, had my tea and went to bed for about 10pm as I had an early start at 4am.

“What do you think happened next? They started to use their very loud equipment. I couldn’t sleep and was so tired that I had to lose a day’s pay.

“They have done work before that had to be done overnight, such as working on the tracks, and gave us prior warning, but working overnight for things like tarmacking the surfaces? It is an insult to our intelligence.”

“I have to be very honest and say that it’s an absolute farce.

“It was meant to be finished in March, then April, then May and so on. It just seems to be never ending."

A Network Rail spokeswoman said that extreme weather conditions in the early part of this year delayed "vital crane movements" meaning that crucial elements of the scheme needed to be re-scheduled.

She said: "Unforeseen existing road drainage conditions led to some re-design works and vandalism to essential site equipment have recently delayed operations further.

“We are committed to completing the remaining works as quickly and efficiently as possible and aim to open the road in the coming weeks.

“We will continue to keep the local community and road users up to date as the project progresses to completion and aim to inform them of the exact road opening date soon.

“Once complete, the new bridge will give headroom for the new electric trains and also feature a straighter road alignment and a wider footpath for pedestrians.”