ANOTHER day, another queue on the A12...and this time it was all down to a pothole.

The county’s main northsouth route was hit by a second successive day of motoring misery, when a 10-ins-deep hole appeared on the Londonbound track near Witham.

Police were called to escort Highways Agency repairmen through the gridlock to make emergency repairs after the hole appeared between Junctions 21 and 22 at about 7.30am.

Traffic was funnelled into a single lane while the work was carried out, causing rush-hour tailbacks.

By 8.30am, traffic was queueing five miles back to Junction 24, at Kelvedon, By 9am the tailbacks were ten miles long, starting at Marks Tey.

The chaos came a day after a serious crash involving two lorries caused 20-mile tailbacks and partly blocked the A12 for seven-and-a-half hours.

Colchester commuter Ray Cornell was one of the thousands of drivers hit by yesterday’s incident.

He said: “The bus I was on, from Colchester to Springfield, diverted off the A12 at Witham and went back on at Hatfield Peverel, but it was still delayed by about half an hour.

“You could see the traffic was absolutely gridlocked.”

Kevin Read, logistics director of B&E Hamblion Transport, based in Hawkins Road, Hythe, Colchester, said his drivers had been caught up in Tuesday’s traffic but Highways Agency alerts meant they were able to avoid yesterday’s chaos.

He explained: “They were able to go around alternative roads, but it does still affect the timing of deliveries.

“I don’t think there’s a lot anyone could do. Accidents happen and roads break up, especially in the cold weather.

“The importance is the speed of the repairs – or is it an issue of roads need more inspections?”

A Highways Agency spokesman said the polthole had measured 5ft by 18ins across and was 10 ins deep.

She added: “The lane was closed because of a hole in the road.

“We got a team out straight away and the police assisted us through.

“The hole was filled in and all lanes were re-opened before 9.30am.”

After Tuesday’s crash, commuters faced delays on the London-bound carriageway, after one of the lorries shed its load of towels across both lanes. It happened between Boreham and Sandon at about 5am but by 9am, queues stretched past Colchester.

The road was fully reopened by 12.30pm.

Police are investigating the crash.