Irish road contractors forced to down tools after Christmas truce

Northern Ireland's roads and utility contractors will be forced to down tools throughout December on all projects involving routes into Belfast, Bangor and Lisburn.

The announcement comes after Parliamentary under-secretary of state, Angela Smith MP, announced a Roads Service embargo for the cities. The exact costs and delays caused by the shutdown is as yet unknown.

In a statement Smith said: "This voluntary arrangement between Roads Service and the roads companies will place a temporary ban on all planned road works on main routes, except for works which are unavoidable. This should help the travelling public during the run-up to Christmas."

Joanne Jennings, Belfast City Centre manager, added: "The shoppers and traders of Belfast will greatly benefit from this initiative and I hope it will encourage even more people to travel into the City during the Christmas period."

The embargo will not, however, affect the M1 scheme as it does not have an impact on the current traffic capacity.