A BROKEN down coach blocked part of a city bridge for seven hours today.

The vehicle pulled up on the Itchen Bridge outbound seven hours ago and caused lengthy delays of more than an hour for several motorists, combined with other problems.

These included the new road layout at Central Bridge, which was reopened just 24 hours earlier.

A city council spokesman said: “This morning Central Bridge was open for the first morning peak hour since repairs were completed and subsequently road users had to get used to a new road layout.

“We acknowledge that there was some congestion on the east side of the city today and we are looking at ways to reduce this. The broken down bus on the Itchen Bridge this morning contributed to the delays.

“The new traffic signals at Marsh Lane were in operation to provide essential safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists. These signals were managed throughout the morning peak with engineers on site and we will continue to monitor.”

The bus has now been removed by city council contractors.

Questions have been left unanswered by the Highways department as to why it took so long for the vehicle to be removed but Balfour Beatty workers have been at the scene in the last 30 minutes between Albert Road North, Saltmarsh Road and Copper's Lane to tow the coach away.