Hundreds of drivers are trapped in standstill traffic on a major seafront road because of a badly timed roadworks traffic light.

Sussex Police has described the situation on the A259 Marine Parade in Brighton as complete chaos and warned motorists to avoid the area.

Queues stretched from Rottingdean to the Palace Pier in Brighton by 7pm tonight.

Inspector Arthur Thorogood, of Sussex Police, said: "We're doing our best to resolve the problem but we're not sure our best is going to be good enough."

The problems have been caused by traffic lights on roadworks set up by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Police said the phasing was preventing traffic from flowing along the road.

The force was attempting to find council staff to fix the problem.

Passenger Dave Elliot said the bus he was aboard at 7.30pm had not moved for 45 minutes. He was furious with the situation, which was stopping him from getting to Saltdean. He said: "It's absolute mayhem. It's utterly unbelievable that this has been caused by some idiots who have left their roadworks without bothering to check everything was alright. The incompetence is unbelievable." Were you caught in the chaos?