Motorists will have to endure five more days of delays after a road repair project ran into difficulties.

West Sussex County Council has announced it is “doing everything it can” to finish the drainage works on the A272 near Cowfold as quickly as possible.

Extra workers have been drafted in by contractor Balfour Beatty with staff working over the weekend to finish the project.

Work to build two new manholes in the road has been delayed following the discovery of old abandoned pipes and a water tank underneath the carriageway.

The local authority says it is hoped the work will be completed by Wednesday weather permitting after an original date of this week.

Three-way traffic lights put up on Tuesday caused jams and Balfour Beatty is now manually controlling the lights during the day to help ease the flow of traffic.

The county council has apologised to drivers for any inconvenience and advised motorists to allow for extra time on their journeys.