Thousands of drivers were stuck in queues for hours after a burst water main caused traffic gridlock across Ashford.

The water main on the A28 Chart Road burst on Tuesday morning and caused traffic jams into the evening rush hour which left motorists fuming.

Now South East Water has admitted it had known about the leak in Chart Road for a week and had been negotiating with Kent County Council to arrange for overnight repairs to be carried out.

Head of distribution at South East Water, Simon Robertson, said: “Due to the busy nature of the A28 Chart Road we were carefully planning with the highways authorities to undertake this repair overnight to minimise disruption to motorists.

"It was unfortunate that the pipeline burst Tuesday morning in such a way which resulted in the need to carry out the emergency repair as soon as possible during peak hours.”

The company said it was alerted to a small leak on Wednesday, November 27.

Busy Chart Road was reduced to a single lane on Tuesday morning and temporary traffic lights were introduced, close to the railway bridge near the Matalan roundabout as workmen battled to repair the damage.

The knock-on effect of the partial road closure was massive queues across a large area including the nearby Drovers and Tank roundabouts, also on the A28.

Some drivers got out of their vehicles and attempted to direct the traffic in a bid to get things moving again.

Full story in this week's Kentish Express.