The Highways Agency has apologised after the traffic chaos on the M20 on Sunday that saw motorists stuck in a four-hour jam on the hottest day for the year.
As temperatures soared to 80 degrees, the queues built up in both directions from the junction 10 Ashford turn.
It came after bridge workers failed to finish overnight building work at the junction, which is undergoing complete remodelling.
But many drivers were outraged that they were trapped in their cars without any warning.
Nick Dalesford and his family were caught in the chaos between junction 10 and 11 as they headed home to London from an Easter break in France.
“It was awful, but the people in real trouble were the car drivers with no air-conditioning,” he said.
“But in some ways there was a bit of a spirit of the Blitz, I saw some drivers sharing bottled water and while we were all very frustrated, we did talk.”
Traffic began to clear after the motorway reopened on Sunday evening.
At one stage Kent Police closed the M20 London-bound carriageway at Dover to stop more drivers running into the jams.
Roads around Ashford were in chaos as cars tried to find their own way around the tailbacks.
The Highways Agency apologised for the upset and issued a statement saying: "We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused by the work over-running.
"Obviously that's no consolation, but we have worked hard to warn people that there are long delays in the area with signs up across our network.
"We haven't had a full explanation as to why the work has over-run but we will be investigating."
POSTED: 16/04/2007 10:30:32
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