The Orwell Bridge has finally fully reopened after being closed since Friday morning closed when a Highways inspection vehicle broke down on it.

The eastbound carriageway was closed between junctions 55 at Copdock and 57 at Nacton causing huge delays and diversion chaos on surround roads.

Suffolk Highways had to wait until a special recovery vehicle traveled down from Yorkshire to move the hydraulic plant which was stuck

The planned bridge inspection was meant to be completed at 06:00 GMT on Friday, but the carriageway could not reopen on time.

The vehicle's platform, which lifts engineers over the side of the bridge, became stuck in the down position after the arm lost hydraulic power.

National Highways bosses explained why keeping the second lane of the carriageway open was deemed unsafe, due to the vehicle being too close to passing eastbound traffic, it added.

A spokesman said implementing a contraflow system - allowing vehicles from both directions to use the westbound lane - would have involved full closure of the road for several hours while it was set up.

Delays on the Strand (Picture: BBC/LDRS)

Motorists were stuck in long queues because of the closure of part of the bridge, such as The Strand at Wherstead, which goes under the bridge

Thursday evening's closure was the latest in a series of 10 planned overnight closures on the bridge running for two weeks but now completed.