MIKE Jones has cracked Newport's car chaos - he's swapped four wheels for two to beat the queues.

The frustrated motorist, pictured, grew so tired of sitting in Newport's traffic jams - caused by the Southern Distributor Road (SDR) construction and new traffic layouts and bus lanes in the city - that he decided to ditch his car.

As the Argus reported earlier this year, Mr Jones, 52, from Malcolm Sergeant Close in Newport, started learning to ride a motorbike because he felt he was wasting too many hours of his life in traffic jams.

Now he has ripped up his L-plates - and says commuting on a motorbike could cut his travelling time by two-thirds.

As the Argus has reported, drivers are getting trapped in traffic at peak times - especially around the Pont Ebbw roundabout and Spytty where roadworks continue on the SDR.

Problems also remain in Cardiff Road where controversial new traffic lights are being blamed for long delays and further up the A48 at the Tredegar Park roundabout where roadworks are affecting traffic.

Mr Jones, a lorry driver, has spent £500 learning to ride a motorcycle and passed his test last Friday.

He said: "It can easily take me three-quarters of an hour to get between home and work which is on Corporation Road.

"On a bike that journey can be done inside 10 minutes, 15 at the most."

He said: "I'll be spending £900 or so on a motorbike but it's worth every penny.

"My test was at 4pm on Friday at a test centre near the civic centre. I followed my instructor in the bus lanes as we drove out of the test centre, past Newport station, over Newport Bridge and then into Corporation Road via Bedford Road and back over the bridge. That took between five and six minutes.

"As I sat in traffic looking at empty bus lanes I thought they were a bad idea. Now I'm grateful to Councillor Dally - he's given me my own private road to drive on!"