Daily Echo: Traffic sign Check the latest local traffic reports

MOTORISTS face further delays getting into Southampton this evening following yet another gas leak.

Millbrook Road West – Southampton’s busiest road linking the city and the M271 - has been reduced to one lane to allow contractors to carry out urgent repairs to pipes laid underneath the carriageway.

Traffic backed up the length of the M271 and on to the M27 and the A 35 to Ashurst towards the New Forest.

Southern Gas Networks said a ten-inch fracture in the pipe had been repaired following reports of a gas leak.

Spokeswoman Sharon Miller McKenzie insisted the works had been “essential and thanked the public for its understanding.

She said part of road would remain closed until 9pm this evening to allow repair materials to set and fully reopen by tomorrow.

It is the ninth time the road has been dug up for work by gas contractors in just three years.

Drivers had been warned to expect delays after two of the three lanes on the eastbound carriageway were closed between Millbrook Flyover and Regents Park Road yesterday.

Southern Gas contractors were on the scene throughout the night, aiming to complete the work by later today.

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Motorists are being urged to seek traffic information before setting out on their journey, and use alternative routes where possible.