LONDON Road in Benfleet will be reopened by “tomorrow evening at the latest” following emergency repairs to a burst water main that have caused traffic chaos across south Essex.

The A13 in Benfleet has been closed westbound since yesterday afternoon after a 15-inch water main burst near Saddlers Farm Roundabout.

As teams worked to repair the main yesterday evening one lane of the eastbound carriage was also closed, with traffic queues forming across Benfleet and Canvey as a result.

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The Appleton School closed on Wednesday afternoon due to the shortage as school bosses said there was no longer enough water supply.

This morning, the chaos on the roads was repeated, with vehicles brought to a standstill between the B1006 High Road in Tarpots and the A130 at Sadlers Farm.

Essex & Suffolk water says crews worked overnight to repair the water main; now is had been fixed, teams are working on relaying the damaged road.

Crews are expected to be on site for at least another 24 hours, with the firm saying it expects to be able to fully reopen the road by tomorrow evening.

A spokesperson for Essex & Suffolk Water said: “In the early hours of yesterday morning (WEDS), we were made aware of a burst on a 15-inch water main on the A13 London Road in Benfleet - close to Saddlers Farm Roundabout.

“To ensure the safety of the general public and our teams, a section of the road was closed to allow a repair to be carried out.

“Our teams worked incredibly hard throughout the night in order to carry out a repair, which was completed in the early hours of this morning and saw little-to-no impact to customer supplies.

“Now that the pipe has been repaired, a reinstatement of the road needs to be completed before it can be reopened.  Contractors have started work on this and are currently relaying the damaged section of the road. We expect the road to be reopened by tomorrow evening at the latest.

“We would like to thank our customers for their patience at this time.”