Lunchtime gridlock is reported to have caused major disruption for hundreds of motorists in Ipswich today.

A lane closure in Fore Street, due to some minor roadworks, has backed up traffic in the Bishops Hill and Fore Hamlet areas of town.

One frustrated motorist said: “It was unbelievably annoying. I ground to a halt at the top of Bishops Hill and it took me half an hour to reach my business in the town centre. This wasn’t rush hour – it was lunchtime, when you would expect the traffic to be relatively light.

“The most irritating thing of all was, when I finally got to Fore Street, to see barriers closing off the nearside lane – all for one bloke, sitting in his lorry, apparently blissfully unaware of the chaos behind him!’’

A Suffolk County Council spokesman confirmed that work began yesterday on two-week project updating the pedestrian crossing outside the Lord Nelson pub in Salthouse Street.

Off peak lane closures will be in place between 9.30am and 3.30pm

“These lanes will be reopened in peak times to minimise disruption,” the spokesman added.