Temporary traffic lights which plunged the Isle of Sheppey into traffic chaos have been removed for the rush hour, Kent Highways has announced.

It comes after furious Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson waded into the road row which brought Kent's holiday Island to standstill.

He said: "It is simply not acceptable. I have demanded immediate answers.

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"I want to know why I and residents were not warned in advance?

"Why is the work not being carried out at night?

"And what liaison took place with Highways England?"

He added: “I have seen photographs of queues stretching onto the Sheppey Crossing. That is incredibly dangerous.”

In a post on his Facebook page last night he demanded: "I want to know who is going to take responsibility for this fiasco and ensure a similar chaos does not happen again?”

Sheppey’s road system was plunged into gridlock when Kent Highways decided to remove temporary plastic barriers and a traffic island from the Lower Road at Minster without any warning.

Workers began altering the junction of the A2500 and Barton Hill Drive yesterday morning which immediately led to delays across the Island.

After an avalanche of complaints KCC insisted contractors operated the temporary lights manually from 6.30am this morning.

But delays still built up because the Lower Road, narrowed to just one carriageway, failed to cope with the daily traffic which included commuters, school children and vans taking prisoners from the Island's jails to court.

At 4pm today, the temporary lights and lane closure were removed. Kent Highways said the measures will only be in place from 9.30am to 3.50pm.

Last night furious motorists trying to get home were queuing back to the top of the Sheppey Crossing.

Many reported the short trip from Sittingbourne to Sheppey was taking up to one-and-a-half hours.

Islanders had already endured delays all day as drivers tried to avoid temporary traffic lights and diverted through Sheerness and Halfway.

But both of those routes quickly became gridlocked, too.