Rush hour ‘carnage’ following lane closure on A47

Traffic built up following an incident on the A47 at Thickthorn. Picture: Sophie Kendall (Image: Archant)

Diversions were in place on the Norwich - southern bypass following an incident near the Thickthorn roundabout on Thursday evening.

Vehicles were being diverted off the A47, causing long queues.

A police spokesman reported two incidents, the first a broken down vehicle on the A47 at Keswick at 3.40pm.The vehicle was recovered at 5.50pm.

Police were also called to Cringleford at 6.10pm following a two vehicle collision.

The spokesman said it was damage only and the carriageway was cleared by 6.40pm.

Due to the incident, there were reports of solid queues from Watton Road and motorists were warned it would add 20 minutes to their journey.

The incident caused a knock on affect as traffic headed into Norwich on the A11 at Cringleford and Eaton.

First Bus routes were severely affected due to the incident.

One bus user, Sophie Kendall, from Sprowston, said it was 'carnage' as she went for the 11A bus to Sprowston at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital at around 5pm.

She described seeing traffic building up including several buses, taxis, cars and some ambulances.

After waiting on the bus for 30 minutes, she walked home due to the gridlock.

Mrs Kendall, 32, said: "It was absolute carnage outside the hospital and there were long queues of people waiting buses in the cold for long periods of time."