Notorious roadworks in a key city road are causing traffic delays of up to an hour.

The works to the Vogue Gyratory in Lewes Road, Brighton, caused such serious delays on Monday morning that Southern Rail agreed to take passengers with bus tickets for free.

Bus users have complained about being late for work and being stranded in the cold.

Brighton and Hove bus company issued a statement on Tuesday saying journeys along Lewes Road were delayed by up to an hour during peak times, apologising for the inconvenience but adding: “It is beyond our control.”

Speaking to The Argus, the company’s director Martin Harris reiterated the apology and said the company was talking regularly to Brighton and Hove City Council about ways to make things better.

One option was suspending some parking spaces at the Level at Union Road, to create a short lane for buses, he added.

He said the worst of the delays was reducing with a second northbound lane now open, while relief buses were also being used, adding: “We will continue doing everything that we can to mitigate the impact of the works on bus users.”

The works, to improve safety and access around the junction, started in July and are due to last a total 20 weeks.

Bus traveller Gemma Watts, 21, from Bevendean, said she waited 50 minutes for her bus to work yesterday as three buses did not turn up.

She added: “I do think that they should reduce the number of buses for certain services where it seems they have a bus every five minutes, and provide more for services coping with delays and non-existent buses.”

Charlotte Denyer, 18, and also from Bevendean, said: “It’s made me late for work nearly every day because of the roadworks and buses not even bothering to turn up.

“The longest I have had to wait is an hour, which was today.

“In the end I had to grab a lift from my grandad, who then had to sit in traffic the whole time.”

A spokesman for the council apologised for any inconvenience and said it would continue trying to minimise disruption for bus users.

He added that the junction was too important to close during the works.