Nottinghamshire County Council officials are investigating after a fake road closure set up by "pranksters" caused gridlock. Mill Lane in Annesley to Laburnum Avenue, in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, was closed in both directions, leading to a huge build of up traffic in Kirkby in particular.
The closure has now been reported to the council and it has emerged that no work was set to take place on the road. Councillor Jason Zadrozny, leader of Ashfield District Council, believes pranksters placed the road closure signs on both sides of the busy road.
Councillor Zadrozny, leader of Ashfield District Council, said: “This closure caused havoc in Kirkby – already impacted by work by Western Power on Kingsway. I was alerted to this problem early on Wednesday (June 22) as I was stuck in the traffic and my phone was ringing off the hook.
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"Via East Midlands, who carry out highways work on behalf of the county council, knew nothing about this. An incident management team were on site and they think the signs were placed maliciously.
"This is incredibly frustrating and, for hundreds of residents stuck on Kirkby’s gridlocked roads, this was no joke. It appears that this closure was fake. I am pleased to inform the residents that the road is now open as normal.”
Gary Wood, head of highways and transport on the county council, said: “We did not put a closure in place on Mill Lane in Annesley and have not been notified of any planned or emergency works by third-parties. We have a team of compliance inspectors who ensure that only authorised roadworks are undertaken in the county and that they are done so safely, with potential penalties in place for those that don’t comply with regulations. An inspector from Via East Midlands has attended the site to remove the signs from display and we are continuing to investigate who placed the road closure signs.”
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