A12 roadworks and homes scheme causing queues in London Road

National Highways’ A12 improvement works and Persimmon Homes’ development in London Road, Stanway, have seen increased traffic bring the road to a standstill over the past week.

Copford resident Lizzy Steward said a five minute school run is taking 50 minutes due to gridlocked motorists.

National Highways has closed the Colchester-bound A12 sliproad at Marks Tey, causing drivers to use London Road as their route towards the city.

Long waits - motorists are facing hefty delays in London Road (Image: Lizzy Steward)

Meanwhile, Persimmon Homes has temporary traffic lights in place as work continues towards the construction of its 66 home site.

Ms Steward claimed the perfect storm created by the concurrent roadwork and development projects has also caused school buses to turn up late.

• 'Stick to approved routes' - National Highways hits back at Copford's traffic woes

“People are trying to skip the traffic by using School Road and Warren Lane which is causing absolute gridlock in the village,” said the mum-of-two, who lives in the Queensberry Avenue estate.

“The pollution is horrendous, you can smell it in the air. It’s like being in central London.

Overwhelmed - increased cars in Copford (Image: Lizzy Steward)

“It just makes you so angry every morning. It’s the sheer frustration of the two parties not talking to each other.

“I feel somebody needs to be held accountable. Everyone is so angry about the impact both of these works are having.”

National Highways’ project on the A12 is expected to continue until next year.

Motorists are already facing a 50mph speed restriction between Colchester’s Spring Lane junction and Marks Tey which causes hefty tailbacks at peak times.

Further up the road from Copford at Stane Retail Park, shoppers have been left stranded due to the infrastructure not being able to cope with the demand the site is attracting.

Gridlock - traffic in Stane Retail Park (Image: Newsquest)

Queues - traffic on the A12 (Image: Newsquest)

Documents deriving from when the retail park was first drawn up suggest planners had hoped for more visitors to walk or cycle to its shops, rather than get behind the wheel.

Mrs Steward added: “The queues at the Sainsbury’s roundabout are bad, it always seems to be at a permanent standstill.

“My friends and I have had to make the decision to begin shopping elsewhere.”

"We apologise for any inconvenience"

A Persimmon spokesman said: “All of our proposed works are agreed in partnership with Essex County Council’s highways team who help to co-ordinate the works taking place on their road network.

“Whilst we apologise for any inconvenience caused, the impact of our works is considered to be relatively minor when compared to the changes being implemented by National Highways.

"Nevertheless, we are pleased to report that the traffic lights associated with our site will finish on February 8, if not before.  

“Persimmon is committed to being a good neighbour and will continue to work collaboratively with all partners to minimise the impact of our construction activities.”