A key road outside a school in Benfleet is to remain closed this week, despite students heading back to school.

The junction of Shipwrights Drive and Benfleet Road will remain closed until Friday, September 6, due to a delay in the works.

Cadent have apologised for the delay and admit that they are “disappointed that the works have not been carried out to the standards expected.”

The closure for the works was due to be lifted last week ahead of King John pupils returning to school.

Andrew Sheldon, Essex County Council councillor responsible for South Benfleet, has said thousands will face extra time in traffic as a result.

He said: “Cadent’s contractors have failed to even get one lane of the Benfleet Road and end of Shipwrights Drive open on time.

“Cadent’s contractors only told them on Saturday and myself and The King John School were told less than 24 hours ago.

“The school has messaged every parent to warn them and letters are being delivered to local residents but the extra congestion this will cause in the surrounds roads at school picking up and dropping off time is likely to be considerable as parents try to get close to the school.

“It also apparently discovered Saturday that the works are now likely to be clear in two to three weeks as opposed to a matter of days.

“Make no mistake, Cadent’s contractors have screwed up royally here and potentially thousands of their customers are going to face extra time in traffic as a result until it is fixed, and it will no doubt add to the stress of many parents and pupils as they return to school.

“I will see to it they are fined the maximum penalty allowed by law for every day these roadworks overrun.

“Please bear in mind through, these are mistakes made by managers in offices far away from our Borough and the workers on the ground are just doing the job according to the instructions they are given. As frustrating as it is, please do not take it out on them.

“Please allow extra time for your journeys.”

Due to the closure, there will only be manned access for residents from the school to this junction.

A spokesman for Cadent added: “Cadent would like to apologise to residents of Hadleigh, Benfleet and surrounding Castle Point area, for the delay in our work on Shipwrights Drive.

“In hindsight, we should have asked for a longer period of time to complete the work and then we would have been able to manage everyone’s expectations better.

“We are disappointed that these works have not been carried out to the standards we expect.

“Our priority now, is to complete the work as safely and quickly as possible.

“As the road makeup consists of a concrete layer, this has to be laid and then we have to let it set hard, which does take a long time to do.

“If you don’t see anyone on a section of road, it could be because we are waiting for the concrete to set. No one can walk or drive over the area until the concrete has completely dried.

“We understand it can be very frustrating when you don’t see anyone on site where there are roadworks. We are working to limit these periods as much as possible.

“The junction of Shipwrights Drive and Benfleet Road will remain closed until Friday, September 6. Manned access for residents only from the school to this junction will continue during this time.”