Motorists trying to get out of London over the Bank Holiday weekend have been hit by up to five hours of traffic jams and lengthy delays at the port of Dover.
Parts of the A3 in west London were closed on Friday and Saturday as emergency walkers worked a wall close to the busy road, leaving drivers stuck in traffic for up to five hours.
Meanwhile, drivers at the Port of Dover were forced to wait for up to two hours on Saturday and long queues were still forming on Sunday morning, the port said.
Actor Hugh Grant was among those who suffered lengthy delays at the Tolworth Junction underpass on the A3 northbound after Transport for London was forced to close several lanes on the busy line.
The issues, which began on Friday afternoon, coincide with the start of the bank holiday weekend and school holidays, with the RAC predicting more than 20 million leisure car journeys will be made between Friday and Bank Holiday Monday.
Traffic quickly became congested on the A3, with one motorist complaining that he was stuck in unnecessary traffic for eight hours on Friday and Saturday.
Another motorist complained that delays of up to two hours were still present on the A3 as of 11pm on Saturday.
Responding to drivers frustrated by the X-ray, TfL wrote: “We are carrying out emergency repairs to part of the wall under the footbridge on the northbound lanes of the A3 at Tolworth Junction.
“Lane closures are necessary to ensure the safety of our infrastructure and the people who use it.”
Notting Hill star Grant claimed he didn't see any work going on as he was stuck in traffic on the London to Portsmouth road.
Hugh Grant posted to X on Friday: “Finally bitching about being stuck in 5 miles of traffic in 5 hours on the A3 on my way to London today.”
“@TfL said they were carrying out 'urgent repair work' near Tolworth Tunnel. But when drivers finally got there that day they found absolutely no work going on. I did too. Nothing. Just a bunch of cones. So apparently @TfL's messaging was untrue. I don't think we can just let this go.”
The national highways authority confirmed that all emergency works had been completed by the early hours of Sunday morning and all lanes of the A3 had reopened.
