Special report: Meet the invisible army - Shropshire Star joins overnight road workers on Shrewsbury's A5

Often lengthy diversion routes lead to late arrivals at work or at home – and frustrations are compounded by the apparent lack of work going on in the areas that have been sealed off.

But what people don't see when tucked up in bed or curled up on the sofa at night is the 'invisible army' working through the night to get the work done and the road re-opened.

The Shropshire Star was invited to see what goes on at night on the A5 in Shrewsbury, where one side of the road is currently completely shut off from 9pm to 6am between the Emstrey and Dobbies roundabouts for resurfacing work.

Being part of the "invisible army" responsible for improving our roads as we sleep is a thankless task – but you won't find many of the workers complaining.

Road worker Richard Phillips said despite the anti-social hours, he loved his job.

The 28-year-old has been working nights on the roads across the Midlands for the past eight years.

"I have a fiancée and two young kids, so working nights all the time does affect my social life," said Richard, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.

"I'm lucky, in that my partner is excellent and really understanding. Sometimes, I get home and just need to sleep for eight hours or so, and she's always fine with that.

"My other mates aren't so sympathetic. I get a lot of stick. Quite a few of them play rugby, and drive to games around the country.

"Whenever I say my back aches or something, they're always like 'Why? You don't do any work!' They've got no sympathy. I do have to tell them that most of our work happens at night – very few people seem to understand just how much we do every night."

Richard understands that working through the night means his work often goes unnoticed.

"I don't mind that," he said. "I take a lot of pride in my work, I've been to college, I've done the qualifications. I always want to do the best job, and we're always really gutted if a night shift doesn't go to plan."

With so much potentially lethal machinery on site on the A5, safety is very much the key word.

So much so that contractors Carnell have a fully-manned and operational speed camera van on site to make sure all vehicles are adhering to the strict 8mph speed limit.

Bobby-Jay Warren, responsible for keeping an eye out when we were there, said: "It's crucial that people keep to the speed limits.

"If you hit something or someone at 5mph it's probably just a bump.

"If you hit something at 10mph, even though it doesn't seem a big difference, it's probably going to be fatal, especially with the big trucks and lorries we have coming through here.

The road is being completely relaid to get rid of cracks and pot-holes, and contractors are also working to clear overgrown vegetation and trees at the roadside in a £2 million-plus scheme.

Work started a couple of weeks ago and bosses insist they are well on track to meet the November 13 completion date.

Contractors Kier are leading the project on behalf of Highways England.

Kier construction team leader Dave Hawley tells us at midnight he was in the office at 7.30am – and will be back there again at the same time tomorrow.

"I'll be there, fielding the inevitable calls and complaints," he said.

"We get our fair share of abuse.

"I've had phone calls the morning after we have been out and laid 2km of road from people claiming the road has been shut and they can't see we have done anything.

"People often moan that they see workers at the roadside having a cup of tea or a fag.

"They take that little snapshot of what they see and come up with this idea that we are standing about all day doing nothing.

"It couldn't be further from the truth – our workers are no different to anyone else, they are entitled to a break the same way someone in an office would be."

On our arrival the 10-mile stretch of road is a hive of activity considering it is so late at night.

Lorry drivers carrying tonnes of Tarmac wait for their cue to enter the site and start work.

They have to wait for the planers – huge great £500,000 tank-like devices – to do their work first.

You can feel the power of these beasts – the rest of the road vibrates under your feet as they move slowly along, removing the top layer of the road surface.

Nearly everything here is recycled to save costs.

The removed surface goes through a huge tube where it is crushed into tiny pieces and spit out into a waiting truck, which will carry it away for it to be re-used for footpaths or lower-layer tarmac.

Site manager Barry James, 39, from Telford, has been working on the roads for 23 years and currently helps manage roadworks in Shropshire for Kier on behalf of Highways England.

He said: "I've been involved in most of the projects in Shropshire over the past 12 months, from the M54 right the way up to Montford.

"We plan our work overnight because the roads are much quieter – it means we cause less congestion, and it makes it much safer for our workforce, as they don't have to work in close proximity to traffic. For a typical nightshift, there's often a team of 10 or so from the surfacing gang for resurfacing, there's up to four planers, various wagon drivers, a site manager.

"There could be up to 50 people working on the site while most people are asleep."

That seems a conservative estimate – there had to be about 100 men on site at least during our visit – but there is little sign of the inactivity so often complained about.

Mobile phones are banned, as are stereos, headphones or MP3 players.

There is very little of the banter you might expect with so many blokes about, save for the driver of the Tarmac-laying truck who shouts out unintelligible things at regular intervals in a succession of silly high-pitched voices.

Hauliers and business bosses in Shropshire have wholeheartedly welcomed the move by Highways England towards night-time roadworks.

Most of the work in the county is now done under the cover of darkness while the roads are at their quietest and most people are asleep.

Of the 1.7 million hours of work in the West Midlands over the past year, nearly one million have been carried out overnight.

That is the case at the moment on the A5 between the Emstrey and Dobbies islands in Shrewsbury, where an army of workers are busy resurfacing the road between 9pm and 6am every night.

Tony Bywater, boss of Salop Leisure in the town, was a vocal critic of earlier roadworks on the Emstrey and Preston Boats islands, which ran four months over schedule earlier this year and caused delays and havoc for drivers.

He said moving to night-time working was better for all.

Mr Bywater said: "Roadworks on the A5 and around our business have a massive impact on our trade and our customers.

"We are absolutely delighted that they are carrying out these works during the night – that is better for everybody.

"On top of that, we are also pleased that this work is being carried out away from the main tourist season when it is getting quieter all the time.

"I have got nothing but praise for what they are doing - night-time roadworks are definitely better for everyone and long may they continue."

A county haulage boss has echoed Mr Bywater's comments.

Brian Davies runs Salop Haulage, a firm which operates 12 HGV lorries all over the Midlands from its base in Harlescott, Shrewsbury.

He said: "We don't operate at night so I didn't even know the roadworks were going on there to be honest with you.

"But I have to say I applaud them if they have decided to do the works at night rather than in the day.

"It's always better for us if they do it that way, as when the roadworks are on in the day it always means more traffic and more hold-ups. Fair play to them I say."

He finds himself hilarious – his colleagues, presumably having heard it all the night before, ignore it and get on with the laying of the road.

Mark Winthorpe, construction manager at Kier, said of the complaints: "The problem is everyone thinks they can do it better.

"You are always going to get people complaining and questioning why a diversion can't go through another village instead of theirs.

"We can only do our best. We've got guys out working tonight in the cold and the rain – they don't want to be out in this at this time of night.

"But we do it because it is the time when it will be of least inconvenience to people." Tim Harbot, Highways England's Midlands regional director, said: "There are hundreds of staff working for Highways England through the night in the Midlands to help meet the challenge of running some of the busiest motorways in the country.

"This invisible army of roadworkers, traffic officers and control centre staff work through the darkness to deal with incidents, repairs and maintenance.

"Their dedication helps to keep drivers moving throughout the Midlands."

The current scheme is one of a handful to have been completed in Shropshire over the past 12 months by Highways England and its contractors.

As with this one, night shifts have been used in the majority of cases to get work done when the roads are at their quietest.

An £8.4 million scheme to improve two of Shrewsbury's principal traffic islands was finally completed in March this year, four months over the scheduled December 2014 completion date.

The mouths of the junctions have been widened, improved lighting has been installed, surfaces have been relaid and new lanes introduced.

Improved

The project took considerably longer than forecast and caused upheaval for motorists for more than nine months.

Highways bosses say it has greatly improved journeys in the area but the jury is still out for some who say the new layout on the islands is confusing.

Questions have also been asked whether shaving a minute or so off travel times is really worth nearly £9 million of public funds at a time of austerity.

In another project, nearly £4 million was spent on improvements on the A5 roundabout at Mile End, near Oswestry.

Work has also taken place on the M54 westbound between junctions 3 and 5, where the old road has been replaced with a new high-grip, low-noise surface which limits spray in wet weather.

The road was again shut overnight for the resurfacing work to take place, and due to problems encountered during the work, the scheme took longer than expected to complete.

Work first began around Christmas last year and was due to finish in April, although the completion date was then put back until June.

But because of adverse weather during the work, the project was not finally completed until July this year with the overnight closures and speed restrictions lifted.