A WATER company has said works on the A259 which have caused heavy traffic will continue tonight.

Southern Water said "local homes" will have their water supplies turned off as engineers carry out works on the site in Rottingdean at 10pm tonight.

It said the work was being carried out tonight to "keep disruption to a minimum".

Temporary traffic lights are currently in place around the works and, after these failed this morning, commuters have reported 30 minute journeys taking more than two hours.

One driver described the disruption as “immense” saying it had taken them two hours and 28 minutes to travel between Peacehaven and Hove - an eight mile journey along the A259 which Google Maps predicts will take 29 minutes.

The Argus:

Southern Water said it would now be "manning the lights" at peak times to "reduce the amount of traffic building up".

In a statement yesterday the company said it hoped to have the works completed by tonight, but in its most recent update it has pushed this back to tomorrow evening.

A spokesman said: "We’re working to fix the leaks at Rottingdean crossroads. 

"During peak times we are manning the lights to reduce the amount of traffic building up, and we hope to remove these by tomorrow evening.

The Argus:

"We know our emergency work is an inconvenience to local customers and road users and would like to apologise for this.

"Our permit, agreed by the local authority, allows us to work during the day but following excavations today, we’ll be returning to site tonight. This will involve turning supplies off to a small number of local homes.

The Argus:

"To keep disruption to a minimum, this will happen at 10pm.

"Our crews may not be visible on site all the time, but we’d like to reassure everyone our repairs continue and we're working as quickly and safely as possible."

Pictures by @dmoonuk and @SussexIncidents