Planned water works have been put on hold after temporary traffic lights caused long delays on the A602 between Stevenage and Hitchin today.

The lights were turned on at about 9am this morning near the junction for Whitehall Road, just as you come into Hitchin, and resulted in long queues back to the Stevenage A1(M) Junction 8 roundabout.

At midday Affinity Water, which is overseeing the works, decided to turn off the lights due to the large amount of traffic that had built up.

The work had been scheduled to start today and to be finished by next Thursday, August 25, but will now be completed at weekends instead – although the exact dates are yet to be arranged.

An Affinity Water spokeswoman said: “We are sorry for any inconvenience which was caused by planned works for an extension on our mains on the A602, Stevenage Road.

“We are working closely with Herts Highways and we have decided that this work will now be rescheduled to weekend working hours to minimise disruption.

“Temporary traffic lights have been removed and the road is now open.”