MOTORISTS on Canvey were dealt a huge blow on their morning commute due to a power line blocking a main road.

Drivers were forced to turn away from Long Road after the line fell to the ground and blocked the middle of the road.

Motorists trying to get off the island and people using public transport were frustrated by the cable’s collapse which forced Canvey to a standstill.

Police quickly responded to the incident at 6.50am on Friday. They tweeted: “Officers are currently making their way to Long Road, Canvey for a power line that is down and across the road.”

Traffic was at a complete standstill for some time along Long Road and Haven Road.

Residents said that those roads and Link Road were completely gridlocked.

Commuters said that the problem also pushed traffic back towards Maple Way.

Drivers spent as long as half an hour crawling through the town centre.

Witnesses described seeing bus drivers letting passengers off as the traffic became so bad that it was quicker for them to walk.

UK Power Networks were out fixing the cable by 9am.

It was confirmed that the damaged cable was connected to a single house along the road.

There was no interruption to the power network in Long Road.

At around 11am, a spokesman for UK Power Networks said: “Our engineers have safely completed a repair to an overhead cable going into a single property on Long Road, Canvey Island.

“Power supplies to the area were not affected.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused to commuters.”

Grace Watson, councillor for Canvey North, said that incidents where roads are becoming gridlocked due to small problems such as last Friday are too common on the island.

She said: “It only takes one little thing to go wrong and we have gridlock across the island - which is simply not good enough.

“Link Road was absolutely chock-a-block with traffic coming that way to get off Canvey.

“It really is every little thing that can cause something like this to happen.”

Mrs Watson said that the problems faced by motorists as a result of the power line coming down is further evidence of a need for a third route to get off Canvey.

However, Mrs Watson is not confident that the day will come where Canvey will get its third exit.

She said: “I have lived here for 32 years and ever since I moved I have been hearing about this third route off the island.

“After that much time I have concluded that it will never happen.

“We get these issues more than ever now and we do not have infrastructure on Canvey at the present time, especially if a fallen power cable can bring the whole island to a stand still.”

UK Power Networks had cleared the road by 11am and traffic flow slowly returned to normal.