DRIVERS faced up to two-hour delays in rush hour after a set of traffic lights failed twice in two days at a busy roundabout.

There were phasing problems with the traffic lights at Howe Green on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning so only a handful of cars were being let through at a time, causing long delays for hundreds of motorists.

Stationary traffic was stacked all the way back from the roundabout to Rettendon Turnpike on the northbound carriageway towards Chelmsford.

James Foot, 34, who works at insurance firm Aon, in Gibralter Walk, Wickford, was one of the drivers caught up in miles of tailbacks. His journey home to Colchester, which normally takes 45minutes, instead took 2hrs 45mins. It took him 20minutes to get on to the A130 from the A129 and then queued for two hours to join the A12.

He said: “There was solid traffic for as far as I could see, lots and lots of stationary cars in both lanes.

“It was very frustrating and also pretty depressing, especially knowing that it was all because of the traffic lights phasing - why weren’t they fixed?

“It annoys me that it wasn’t sorted quicker as I think a lot of the build up could’ve been prevented. Because of the hold ups I missed giving my baby daughter a bath and didn’t see her at all as she was already in bed by the time I got home.”

An Essex County Council spokesman said: “Essex County Council highways officers have been working to resolve the incident regarding the phasing of the lights at Howe Green.

“Highways engineers have now corrected the operation of detectors on the traffic lights that monitor traffic and alter the timing of the lights accordingly.

“It is believed this issue has now been resolved and the site will be closely monitored on an on-going basis using CCTV that is at the site.

“We would like to apologise to highways road users for any inconvenience caused by this fault.”