A LANE closure labelled “utterly ridiculous” was removed only hours after it was put in place... because NO work was actually taking place on the road.

The closure, in High Road, Benfleet, appeared in Monday’s morning rush hour after UK Power Networks launched emergency electricity roadworks.

But it was withdrawn hours later after Andrew Sheldon, Essex county councillor for Benfleet, lodged a complaint with the authority.

The roadworks had seen a three-way set of temporary traffic lights installed at the junction of Vicarage Hill and High Road and had caused traffic chaos during the morning school run.

Although the lane closure has been removed during the day, it will continue to be in place between 10.30pm and 2am each night until Friday.

Mr Sheldon said: “Sometimes utilities companies need to do emergency works we all understand that, but to restrict a busy route like Benfleet High Road for any longer than necessary is utterly unacceptable.

“It’s annoying enough for us to have to suffer roadworks when no-one is manning them, but shutting a lane when there is no need is ludicrous.”

He added: “It was outrageous

“The trench wasn’t even in the road. It was in someone’s garden away from the roadside.

“It was unacceptable.

“If it had stayed in place it would have slowed the whole of Benfleet and Canvey.

“There was no need to block the road.”

Mr Sheldon has also secured a meeting in a bid to make sure there is no repeat of the incident.

“Rebecca Harris will be meeting with me, a few other councillors, and UK Power Network to try and stop this happening again.

“It wasn’t good enough.

“It wasn’t fair on residents.

“Thankfully it was removed before the school run.”

An Essex Highways spokesman said: “Following complaints, our roadworks manager visited the UK Power Networks site on the junction of Vicarage Hill and Benfleet High Road where UK Power Networks are carrying out electricity grid maintenance.

“He agreed with the company that the traffic lights will only be used during restricted hours to coincide with necessary works on site.”

Mr Sheldon then told the Echo that he has arranged a meeting with Rebecca Harris, the Conservative MP for Castle Point, and UK Power Networks, to discuss what went wrong.

“I have called Essex Highways and have got an emergency inspection scheduled for this afternoon.

“This can’t be right.

The emergency electricity roadworks, courtesy of UK Power Networks, were put in place on Monday morning, but thanks to Andrew Sheldon, an Essex County Councillor for Benfleet, it was removed before the afternoon school run.

A spokesman for UK Power Networks said: "We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused by our roadworks in the High Street and Vicarage Hill, and have temporarily removed the lane restriction and traffic lights.

"They had been permitted by the local council, to enable machinery and large vehicles to access the site. However we recognise the lights and lane restriction are inappropriate between phases of the project, so we will manually operate traffic lights on site 10am to 2.30pm tomorrow (February 5), which should greatly help traffic flow.

"We are liaising with the council to minimise the impact of this work, and have been granted a permit to work until Friday (February 7), but will endeavour to clear the site sooner if possible."