Traffic chaos caused when a lorry shed its load onto a car could have cost the local economy thousands, according to a former Chamber of Trade chairman.

Chris Bailey believes town planners must rethink Witham’s road network before more houses are built.

He said: “I went in to Morrisons at about 5pm and the car park is normally full at that time but it was empty.

“Very clearly they were losing a hell of a lot of turnover. I met a chap desperately trying to get past the road block to get to a pharmacy for a prescription.

“I saw ambulances trying to turn around at the roundabout. Doctor’s time would have been wasted because patients didn’t turn up.

“The traffic jam was spreading out of Witham. It’s the result of having a very fragile transport network where a lot of traffic has to go through one single junction."

The incident brought parts of Witham to a virtual standstill for nearly seven hours, leaving hundreds of drivers stuck in traffic and commuters stranded.

Police closed Collingwood Road at the bridge at about midday but despite the driver only sustaining minor injuries it took until 6.50pm to clear the road.

See this week's Witham Times for the full story.