TRAFFIC in Maidstone was brought to a standstill today while essential gas works were carried out in Palace Avenue.

Gas suppliers TransCo were drafted in to install a new gas mains underneath Palace Avenue, outside the town's police station.

The work, which blocked off one lane of traffic for a section of one-way system in Palace Avenue, caused severe traffic hold-ups for rush-hour motorists.

Communications advisor for TransCo, Geoff Aspel, said: "We started work after 6pm on Tuesday evening so that we would hopefully miss the rush hour and then we called in extra staff and worked into the night to try and get the job done as quickly as possible.

"We do realise closing off one lane of traffic causes congestion and we are sorry for the delays it has caused.

"However, we have an obligation to provide people with gas. If people request a gas supply we have to provide it for them. We just try and do it quickly. Our main problem with time was filling it in and not knowing how long the surface would take to set."