M20 chaos after engineering delay

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/kent/6557949.stm

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Over-running engineering works on the M20 in Kent have seen motorists delayed for several hours on the hottest day of the year.

Overnight bridge work at junction 10, near Ashford, had been due to finish at 1000 BST on Sunday but it was not completed until about 1800 BST.

There were eight-mile tailbacks on the London-bound carriageway, and queues of three miles heading for the coast.

The Highways Agency apologised for the delay and said it was investigating.

Lanes on the motorway were being reopened from just before 1800 BST, and traffic began moving after at least six hours of virtual standstill for many.

There are young families in cars... and there are kids being ill Coach driver Anthony Sutton

A Highways Agency spokesman told the BBC: "We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused by the work over-running.

"Obviously that's no consolation, but we have worked hard to warn people that there are long delays in the area with signs up across our network.

"We haven't had a full explanation as to why the work has over-run but we will be investigating."

Slip roads at junction 10 were being used to take traffic off and then back onto the motorway during the pre-planned bridge works.

Ambulance call-outs

Coach driver Anthony Sutton, from New Ash Green in Kent, was taking 48 schoolchildren back to Milton Keynes after their Easter skiing holiday in Italy.

Mr Sutton said: "We came off the boat this morning at 1200 BST and we've been stuck here ever since."

Mr Sutton said road signs warning of congestion on the M20 came too late for him to take an alternative route.

"It [the roadworks] shouldn't be done on the last day of half-term when everyone is heading home from overseas.

"There are young families in cars that haven't got air conditioning and there are kids being ill."

The Highways Agency spokesman said: "Traffic officers have carried out welfare checks and given out water."

South East Coast Ambulance Service said it had treated people suffering from the effects of the heat, but it could not put a precise number on how many call-outs there had been.