EMERGENCY roadworks will be carried out on a city centre street in Southampton this week.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is carrying out the repairs to a section of underground cables at the junction of the A3024 and Western Esplanade at the bottom of Civic Centre Hill.

The outbound side of the road will be closed tomorrow and says the works will be completed "as quickly and as safely as possible".

There will be a contraflow system with traffic lights in place.

A Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks statement said: "“We recognise there is never a good time to close a lane on a busy road in Southampton so I would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused to the public.

"These emergency works are required to carry out essential repairs to the electricity network in the area to maintain a safe, secure and reliable supply of electricity to our customers.

"The carriageway closure is required to ensure the safety of local road users, the public and our engineers as repairs are underway.

"I’d like to reassure road users in the area we will do everything we can to minimise disruption.

"Our engineers will complete these works as quickly and safely as possible and the carriageway closure will be removed as soon as the emergency works are complete.

"I’d like to thank the local community in advance for their patience."

The news comes after motorists faced traffic gridlock last week when roadworks at Millbrook Roundabout began.

A multi-million pound project to refurbish the road began on Monday and resulted in long tailbacks on the M27, M271 and surrounding roads.

Residents blamed part of the traffic chaos on HGVs and urged highway bosses to look at diversion routes to ease congestion problems.

Queues stretched back to Rownhams Services on the M27, while drivers were advised to slow down to 40mph as they reached junction 3.

The city council admitted that it would look at making changes "if necessary".

Millbrook Flyover will remain open in both directions throughout the project.

Regarding the Western Esplanade works, a city council spokesperson said: "We are working with SSEN to do everything we can to minimise disruption while they carry out the emergency repair works.

"Delaying the work is unfortunately not an option.

"Our variable messaging boards and advance warning signs are out already advising drivers of the potential disruption.

"SSEN are installing intelligent temporary signals so that our control room can monitor the road network and adjust the signals to manage traffic flows as necessary."