TRAFFIC chaos hit the New Forest yesterday after a faulty level crossing blocked the main road through the district.

Huge tailbacks built up on the busy A337 after the barriers at Brockenhurst railway station locked in the down position.

Traffic was halted for about 40 minutes before engineers arrived and began to operate the crossing manually.

A Hampshire police spokesman said: "We had a call from Network Rail at 2.59pm to say the crossing had developed a fault.

"British Transport Police said an engineer had been called but was an hour away. We advised all our officers in the area because of the traffic problems that were likely to occur.

"Shortly after 3pm we had a call from a woman who had been stuck there for 20 minutes and wasn't very happy."

Another motorist said: "I'd been waiting there for several minutes when I realised that other drivers had got out their cars and were looking towards the crossing to see what the problem was.

"Several people turned round and attempted to find an alternative route."

Brockenhurst councillor Maureen Holding said: "When something like this happens it's not just Brockenhurst that's affected it's places such as Lyndhurst and Lymington.

"The knock-on affect on traffic is appalling."

Previous problems with the crossing have sparked calls for a bridge across the line, possibly at a location near the back of Brockenhurst College.

Cllr Holding added: "The traffic system around Brockenhurst will have to be looked at again because the National Park will bring more people into the Forest.

"A bridge may not be the answer, but something will have to be done."

Yesterday's traffic nightmare began about 3pm, when the barriers came down to let a train through and refused to go up again afterwards.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "Engineers arrived about 3.40pm and operated the crossing manually until the fault could be repaired.

"We can only apologise for the delays that occurred while the crossing was closed."