Tom Hunt says he has requested an "urgent meeting" with National Highways after the Orwell Bridge was closed for much of Friday. 

Chaos ensued in Ipswich and on the A14 after planned roadworks overran on the eastbound carriageway. 

Broken down machinery was unable to be moved and was stuck in position underneath the bridge, with a specialist vehicle required to travel from North Yorkshire to carry out repairs before it reopened on Friday evening.

Ipswich Star: The broken down machinery blocked part of the A14The broken down machinery blocked part of the A14 (Image: National Highways)

Traffic was brought to a standstill around Ipswich, with Mr Hunt revealing he was caught in the disruption himself.

"I got caught up in this myself. It took me two-and-a-half hours to get from Copdock to the waterfront," he said in a statement on Friday.

"Trust me, I get the huge frustration felt.

"It's unhealthy that we're so utterly dependent on the bridge being open. For the bulk of the day the Town has been at a standstill. A huge set back for local businesses and Ipswich residents going about their day."

After the significant disruption caused by bridge closure on Friday, Mr Hunt revealed he has requested a meeting with National Highways.

He added: "I've read the statement issued by National Highways but I've sent a fairly direct email today requesting an urgent meeting to understand more fully the reasons for the severe disruption we've seen today.

"I understand that freak incidents occur from time to time and clearly the repair vehicle breaking down was unfortunate, but I've outlined a number of questions as to whether or not more steps could have been taken today by National Highways to have minimised disruption and dealt with the situation more urgently.

"What I want to see is a flexible, pragmatic, can do attitude to keeping the bridge open."

National Highways apologised for the disruption caused by incident.