MOTORISTS expressed fury last night after getting stuck for hours in gridlock on the A1 after the road was closed to install a bridge – and described diversions signage as “a complete shambles”.

Drivers said they had been forced to turn back and cancel plans as they spent three hours driving just four miles near Catterick, where the key route between Baldersby, south of Thirsk, and Scotch Corner, was shut for 34 hours for the Leeming to Barton motorway upgrade work.

In one case, a man who was due to get married tried to squeeze past stationary traffic. As the minutes ticked down he resorted to begging fuming drivers to let him pass.

Eventually, he was forced to sit and wait – his way blocked by a heavy goods lorry.

As motorists’ frustration grew, the driver of a Vauxhall Corsa was seen to attempt to go through the roadworks and, unsuccessfully, to drive under the back leg of a large crane. His car struck the leg of the crane and became wedged beneath it with the shocked driver still at the wheel.

North Yorkshire Police later arrived on the scene of the incident, but last night declined to comment.

Highways England said it had done everything it could to warn drivers of the closure but tailbacks stretching to more than ten miles on the southbound carriageway north of Scotch Corner built up on Saturday afternoon as motorists from across the region reported a lack of diversion signs and heavy traffic through towns including Darlington, Richmond, Catterick and Northallerton.

One motorist, Pavel Tkachuk, said that before he and his partner had left Sedgefield at 11.45am to be in Liverpool for 3.30pm, they checked the Highways England website which reported delays of up to 25 minutes.

He said: “There was no signage, no notices and a pure carnage stand-still traffic. At around 3.15pm we reached Piercebridge roundabout, cancelled our plans and frustratingly turned back to Sedgefield.”

Driver Nigel Boddy claimed thousands of motorists had been sent on “wild goose chases all over North Yorkshire”.

He said: “Motorists were travelling to Scotch Corner only to be turned around and sent back North again to Darlington from where many of them had just come. The Highways Agency seem to have intended the motorists should then join the A167 to Northallerton instead. There just weren’t any signs up telling motorists to do that.

“Chaos ensued as people tried to make their own way through Richmond and Catterick back onto the A1.”

Another driver said he had left Bishop Auckland at 12.20pm for a lunch at Richmond, but did not arrive at the town until 4.45pm.

Highways England said it had advised drivers ahead of the work that diversion routes would be in place and to allow an extra 30 minutes to their journey time.

A spokesman said: “As well as putting advance temporary signage in place, Variable Message Signs were set from north of Newcastle. We work hard to keep drivers informed and real-time traffic information for England’s motorways and major A-roads is also available at highways.gov.uk/traffic

“We aim to keep disruption to a minimum, and we would like to thank drivers for their patience.”

Neither the agency or police reported traffic issues on the A1 yesterday (Sunday, October 9).

It is understood the work to install the bridge at Catterick is complete. The agency has warned a series of temporary road works will continue throughout October for the main construction works, but it is not believed to include any closures of the A1 after 6am today (Monday).