THE man in charge of Worcestershire's highways has defended the traffic chaos that left the city in uproar last week - and said there will be no compensation for those who abandoned commutes to work or missed other trips and appointments.

Jon Fraser has reiterated his apology for a council traffic survey which brought parts of the city to its knees in an interview with your Worcester News.

The senior official, who has come under severe criticism from the public in recent days, said:

- The county council will not be offering compensation to those who abandoned commutes to work or missed other trips or appointments

- Alternative ways of getting the data, such as an online poll, would have been a waste of time as the Development for Transport advice is to follow the 'census' method

- He defended doing the survey while Sansome Walk was closed and the A38 Ketch island is being revamped, saying Worcester has constant utility work all year round and there is "no perfect time" to do it

- He believes it will pay dividends in future bids for Government funding, and says the "short term pain" was the only way Worcestershire can hope to get a good deal

As your Worcester News revealed earlier this week, drivers in five city locations were pulled over by police from 7am-7pm and asked to do a survey of four basic questions.

It caused massive problems around south Worcester, with reports of buses taking two hours to get from Malvern to the city centre and delays of up to 90 minutes on routes like the A449 Malvern Road and A4440.

Mr Fraser, highways customer and community manager, said: "There is never a going to be a great time to do it because there are always roadworks going on - the Ketch island work is on all year.

"We're trying to do something in The Butts and I've got plenty of utility firms queuing up in the city - the whole point of doing a survey is if people say 'I'm going this way because Sansome Walk is shut', we can capture that."

He also said suggestions that it could have been done online would not wash with the Department for Transport.

"We did it this way because this is what's recommended by the Department for Transport (DFT) - when you put bids in for however many millions they say 'have you got robust data to support it'," he said.

"You need to make a business case with robust data and the best way to do it is by these surveys."

He added: "The last time we did it was five or six years ago. It did cause additional congestion, but it's once in a blue moon.

"If you tried doing it online you're not always guaranteed a response, nor are you sure people are telling the truth.

"When we do it this way we can count the number of car users too."

He also said the 2013 award of £4.9 million for the Hoobrook Link Road was only possible because a similar survey was done two years ago in Kidderminster which swayed the DFT.

"I did say (beforehand) 'I don't think this will cause a massive delay'," he said.

"In some locations it was more than what I thought, and as I've said we do apologise for that."

He said when cars break down on the M5 drivers can't claim compensation, arguing it would be unrealistic for County Hall to start handing out cash.

* What do you think? Email te@worcesternews.co.uk or call 01905 742248.