‘Carmageddon’ has wreaked havoc on Southampton this week as several road closures left commuters gridlocked across the city.

Works on M27 Junctions 5, 7and 8 saw slip roads close between Tuesday and today, while rail repairs on St Denys Road brought further delays.

Temporary signals at the Civic Centre Road junction that were stuck on red also caused queuing in the city centre.

Diversions and congestion from the several major road work schemes caused hours of delays for motorists, who were powerless in gridlocked queues in rush hour hotspots like the city centre and A335.

While everyone across the city has been feeling the effects of the traffic congestion, Ray Callaway from Hamble Hoovers felt it more than most.

Ray travelled from Hamble to Portswood to pick up a part for his hoover repair business, but it ended up taking him four hours to travel to Machine Mart and back.

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Ray said: “I tried to cut down St Deny’s but I could not take a left because they’ve blocked the bridge off.

“I had customers calling me asking where I was, I felt absolutely powerless."

Ray arrived back to the workshop at 6.30pm – missing an entire afternoon of business due to the roadworks.

Ray Callaway standing in front of his business Hamble Hoovers.Ray Callaway standing in front of his business Hamble Hoovers. (Image: Ray Callaway) School children were also caught in the crossfire. One 53-year-old mum, who did not want to be named, told the Daily Echo that it took him three and a half hours to get home from Barton Peveril Sixth Form College.

She said: “He was knackered, really tired. It was horrible weather, he was hungry and he had homework to do for the next day. It was very full on."

READ MORE: Food delivery driver 'dreads' working in Southampton amidst congestion chaos

The M27 closures have now concluded as of today, but the works on St Denys Road will continue until October 27 and Southampton City Council has issued no update on the temporary signals on Civic Centre Road.

Roadworks at St Denys Bridge will continue until October 27.Roadworks at St Denys Bridge will continue until October 27. (Image: Newsquest) Councillor Eamonn Keogh, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport said: “Over the past few days there has been a coincidence of different events, some planned and some unplanned incidents that have led to unusual levels of congestion, including the M27 J7 slip road closure, the need to make repairs to St Denys Bridge, equipment failure at Civic Centre Junction and power failure at Cumberland Place as well as other road traffic incidents.

“Individual incidents such as at Cumberland Place or the vehicle breakdown on the M27 J5 slip road have been resolved as quickly as the relevant authorities have been able to."

A National Highways spokesperson said: “The extent of this work would normally take two full weekend closures, but to minimise disruption we have been able to reduce this to one full closure combined with overnight works - when traffic is at its lightest.

"We apologise for the temporary disruption this has caused but the slip road closures are essential and will improve the quality of the road surface meaning less ongoing maintenance and a new low-noise surface that will benefit both communities living near to the motorway and those traveling on it for many years to come.”

Hampshire County Council declined to directly comment any further.