HOURS of traffic chaos that brought Southampton to a standstill could have been avoided, a city councillor has claimed.

Thousands of motorists were trapped in five-mile long tailbacks from Southampton to Totton and the New Forest due to a collapsed drain in Millbrook Road West which caused two lanes to be closed.

Yet Millbrook councillor Steven Galton claims he raised concerns with the highways department about a loose drain cover in the road in September.

He told the Daily Echo: “It seems rather than taking proactive action to keep our roads safe, and disruption to a minimum, the council is waiting for the situation to reach critical level before reacting.

“Once again how much damage is being done to our city’s reputation and how much financial harm is being caused to our local economy?”

City council transport leader Cllr Jacqui Rayment said she was unable to confirm whether her department previously knew about the drain but stressed she would take reports from the public and fellow councillors “very seriously”.

A city council spokesman said it was looking into the claims but could not provide a response until Monday.

Andrew Pope, Labour councillor for Redbridge, added he was demanding answers from council bosses over how the situation happened.

He said: “I have asked the chief executive for answers and I want them quickly. We don’t want a repeat of this situation because the impact was not just on my ward but right out to the New Forest.

“And if there is any fault on behalf of private companies then they should be held to account and we have a good track record of doing that going back to Southern Electric and the series of power cuts last Christmas.”

Politicians and business leaders raised concerns about how much damage to the economy major traffic jams could cause.

But bosses at the city port said the jam did not have much of an effect on trade. ABP Southampton Port Director Nick Ridehalgh said: “As with any logistics business congestion is not helpful, however the port continued to operate smoothly.”

It is still unclear who is responsible for the drain in question with Southern Water denying they own it, claiming the drainage network was managed by several agencies and that it was working with the city council to investigate further.