Is there anything more frustrating as a motorist than being held up by what feels like an endless stream of ongoing roadworks?

Like many parents to have taken on the unpaid role as their children’s taxi service in the last 12 months, never have we clocked-up so many miles motoring across the south for one sporting fixture or another.

And while I can’t really remember a time when petrol was considered ‘cheap’ neither can I recall a time before now when there were so many roadworks or road closures?

As we traversed four counties in 48 hours this weekend not one journey was plain sailing.

And it genuinely felt that we averaged about 20 minutes at a time before encountering a road closure, some temporary traffic lights, traffic down to one lane or even just some random cones and a barrier in the road every car was forced to swerve around.

Those, by the way, are my favourite.

That and getting to the cause of the jam only to find there’s greater signs of life on the moon.

Now I’m fully aware that I’m developing a very grumpy Victor Meldrew-esque attitude to these hold-ups that is relative to the hours I now spend in the car.

But surely I’m not the only one turning sour as I sit and will the next set of temporary lights to go green?

According to Kent County Council statistics released earlier this year - highways in the county shut for works have shot up by more than 200% from 4,833 in 2017/18 to 10,736 in 2022/23.

And they aren’t the only county reporting significant increases.

Equally no one of course is arguing the works aren’t essential.

An explosion in house building that has seen the need for more work by utility firms explains most of that rise. And, of course, with booming populations comes the need for improved infrastructure.

However, the government estimates that nationally in 2022/23, a whopping two million street works were carried out, costing the economy around £4bn in disruption.

They are figures now being fed into a national consultation exploring whether there should be an increase in fines for overrunning projects. This could include penalties for delays at weekends and on bank holidays which aren’t currently issued.

‘Being stuck in traffic is infuriating for drivers’ says roads minister Guy Opperman. After this weekend, I couldn’t agree more.