Urgent gas investigation and repair work will not be finished before Thursday's evening rush hour.

A large pile of rubble was left in the centre of Barrack Road traffic lights this morning due to work started by SGN yesterday.

Despite attempts to get the road surface relaid by rush hour tonight, the company say the diversion will remain in place until after the busy period on Thursday.

Dan Brown, spokesperson for SGN said: "Our urgent repair work on the A35 Barrack Road is ongoing.

"We’ve needed to excavate in the middle of its junction with Stour Road to make the repair to our gas network.

"To ensure everyone’s safety around our site, motorists are unable to make right turns across the junction and a signed diversion is in place.

"We've completed our repairs and we're currently working to restore the road surface to its original condition.

"The tarmac is cooling and we expect to be able to clear our site and reopen affected right turn lanes after this evening's (Thursday 6 September) rush hour."

Cones remained in place this morning and there is no right turn onto Stour Road (towards Tuckton) eastbound, with the diversion being a U-turn at Fountain roundabout.

There are lane closures in place on Stour Road, as well as the A35 westbound and A35 eastbound.