Drivers were left fuming in their cars as roadwork chaos caused gridlock in Sudbury.
Cars and lorries ground to a halt after temporary traffic lights either side of Ballingdon Bridge were incorrectly set, causing queues out of the town as far as Bulmer.
EDF Energy started work on underground cables on Tuesday morning in Friars Str
eet, at the same time as Suffolk County Council began work in Church Street, close to the junction of Ballingdon Street.
Within minutes of temporary lights being switched on vehicles began backing up on Ballingdon Hill.
Steve Farringdon and wife Julie, from Halstead, thought they would drive to Sudbury to meet friends for lunch.
"We are late to say the least," said Mr Farringdon as he sat in the driver's seat. "We've been sitting in a queue from the other side of Bulmer and haven't been out of first gear for about 45 minutes. It will be dinner by the time we get there."
Peter De Nayer, a journalist with the Guild of Motoring Writers, said the lights had not been phased properly.
"I brought my wife into town for a medical appointment, leaving with plenty of time, but we were still very late. There wasn't even any work going on when we finally got through the lights, which made people a bit more agitated."
Mary Bridgeman sat outside her antiques shop at the junction of Ballingdon Street and Bulmer Road as the traffic ground to a halt.
She said: "I've never seen it this bad. The pollution along here is bad enough anyway and now there are just cars sitting here pouring fumes out and not going anywhere.
"All the shops around here are suffering as no one wants to stop and park, in case they never get out again."
After the Free Press asked the county council to explain the fiasco a spokeswoman admitted its roadworks should not have been started while the EDF work was still going on.
She said: "They should not have been taking place at the same time.
"We will be stopping the work.
"Our area network inspector is going down there to tell them to pack up and leave."
Within hours the traffic lights and roadworks were gone and traffic started moving again.
jonathan.schofield@sudburytoday.co.uk
The full article contains 386 words and appears in Suffolk Free Press newspaper.
