COMMUTERS were sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic this morning after water mains ruptured in various parts of the town.

Large puddles of water were reported in Southampton Street, Whitley Street and the Church Road junction with Woodlands Avenue in Woodley after the mains burst overnight.

Workmen from Thames Water were called to the various sites to fix the problem, and temporary traffic lights were installed to help traffic flow.

One of the most affected areas was the Pepper Lane junction with Shinfield Road, where workmen were repairing a leak.

One commuter, who was late for work after his journey from Earley to Reading took more than an hour, told the Chronicle: "It was really bad this morning. By the time I got to Pepper Lane the traffic was at a stand-still.

"Lots of people were trying to cut through the University which caused more problems because they were then blocking the junction of the University gates and Shinfield Road."

A spokesman for Reading Borough Council said work on the Pepper Lane junction has to be done as it will prevent future flooding.

They added: "Thames Water have been attending a water leak near the Shinfield Road/Pepper Lane junction.

"This is the final phase of the works to place the permanent road material in place – temporary material doesn’t last long in these temperatures so there would be a risk of pot holes developing later if the job wasn’t done properly now."

Workmen are expected to continue working at the junction until Thursday January 26.

A spokesman for Thames Water added: "We’re sorry for the disruption our burst water main is causing.

"We’ve been working through the night to make the area safe and plan our repairs, and this work will continue today.

"Water supplies to some of our customers near the burst may be interrupted for a short while today, but we’ll be working as fast as we can to get things back to normal quickly.”