A lane closure on a major Preston route has been blamed for two days of Preston city centre gridlock.

A collapsed sewer under London Road has seen United Utilities begin emergency repairs.

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This has meant a lane is closed in London Road heading out of the city centre, at the junction with Montjoly Street, down towards Walton-le-Dale.

Preston Bus said its services using the city centre were experiencing long delays and in some cases being cancelled.

Ring Way became completely gridlocked on Wednesday (20 September) with drivers reporting cars going through Friargate and round by the Markets to try and escape the jams.

Heavy traffic was still in place until approaching 7pm on Wednesday and Thursday.

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A spokesman for Preston Bus said: “Unfortunately bus services suffered during the congestion on Thursday evening (21st September), with delays and some loss of service.

“We expect the heavy traffic congestion to be repeated, and whilst we always strive to provide normal service levels some delays on services crossing the city centre may be unavoidable during the roadworks, especially at peak times.”

Preston Bus has announced a number of changes to services between 1.30pm and 6pm on Friday to services heading into the city centre. It says these may help to alleviate congestion.

Friargate and the Markets bus stops on Ring Way will not be served during the diversion for inbound journeys.

Passengers will be able to alight on Lancaster Road and of course the bus station.

Services 23, 31, 35, 44 will use Walker St, Lawson Street, Tenterfield underpass, Ormskirk Road, then Tithebarn Street, Lord St, Lancaster Road, Church Street, Pole St, Lord’s Walk to the bus station. Though complicated by one way systems and the works ongoing at the bus station, we still expect this route to be faster than Ring Way, should this be gridlocked once more.

Services 5, 6 & 19 will divert via St George’s and St Paul’s Roads on the inbound journey only.

Service 89 may start/finish at the Railway Station if Ringway gets particularly bad. 13, 75/75A, 80 are likely to be heavily delayed as they were yesterday.

The emergency roadworks are due to be in place until Friday (29 September).

Have you been caught up in the delays? Let us know in the comments below