DRIVERS have been stuck in queues after a gas main started leaking on the A127.

National Grid engineers started work to fix the problem near the junction with The Fairway, Leigh, on Friday.

The London-bound stretch at Prince Avenue, Southend, was closed from Kent Elms, by Progress Road, on Sunday and both the sliproad and one lane remained closed yesterday between Progress Road and Bellhouse Road, with a National Grid spokesman saying the sliproad was scheduled to reopen at 4am today.

Work was suspended on Saturday when a jogger was injured by a police car believed to be on its way to a robbery at Burger King, Southend High Street and the road was again closed.

On Sunday, traffic ground to a halt, with motorists complaining of having to crawl for 45 minutes or more before finding they had to turn back at Kent Elms, all with a strong smell of gas.

Andrew Maclean, 55, of Thorpe Bay, almost missed his 15-year-old son Neil’s football game in Ilford as he was taking him to the ground at about 11.30am and said he was disappointed there were no notices about the blocked road.

He said: “They closed the whole road but there was nothing at the previous junction to divert traffic away from it.

“We had to wait for three quarters of an hour then turn back – it’s just really inconsiderate.

“My son just made it to the game – he was supposed to be there two hours before the game, but we arrived 15 minutes before.”

Colin Bishop, 38, from Southend, left his house before 9am and said the traffic meant he missed a hospital appointment at Orsett.

He said: “I seemed to be there for a very long time, at least half an hour.

“It just seems to be one thing after another on that road and when you’re coming back the other way, you’ve got problems on the Tesco roundabout now too. It took me more than an hour to get to the hospital but I was able to call ahead and rebook.”

National Grid said: “We are liaising with the council to return to complete a permanent reinstatement of the fast lane of the dual carriageway – this is likely to be done overnight in the next few days. A temporary reinstatement has been done to ensure traffic can keep moving and we intend to carry out the permanent reinstatement at night to minimise inconvenience.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience.

The number for people to call if they have concerns about gas safety or to report gas escapes to is 0800 111999.”