There was misery for drivers heading to and from Portland as emergency repair works caused huge queues. 

Traffic was at a standstill yesterday on the A354, near High Street, where temporary lights are in place so emergency work can be carried out to repair electric cabling.

The work is to repair a fault on the underground cable network.

One motorist said at the time: "There are huge queues both ways. There doesn't appear to be anyone working at the site so it looks as though these traffic lights will be there all weekend, which can't be good. Traffic is at a standstill."

Another said: "It's pretty bad. I tried to take a different route home but it still took an hour."

There are reports of journey times of up to an hour-and-a-half travelling from Tophill to Fortuneswell. 

A spokesman for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), said: “We recognise there is never a good time to close a lane on a busy road so we’d like to we’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused this evening. We’d like to reassure road users we will do everything we can to minimise disruption.

“These emergency works are required to carry out essential repairs to the electricity network in the area to maintain a safe, secure and reliable supply of electricity to our customers.”

Dorset Echo:

  • Traffic is queuing on Portland   Picture: Geoff Moore/Dorset Media Service