A traffic light failure on gas, water and electricity works connected to the new M25 service station caused huge pile-ups and made one bride late for her wedding at the weekend.

The lights near Downside Bridge failed at about 2pm on Saturday, only letting cars through from the Cobham side and causing huge pile-ups from the opposite direction.

A bride heading to her wedding at the Plough pub in Downside was caught in the traffic, leaving her husband to be and their guests waiting worriedly for nearly half an hour.

One wedding guest, who asked not to be named, said: “She was only making a short trip from Horsley which should only take 15 minutes or so. The queue from the Downside end went back and back for what seemed like miles.

“It is terribly annoying that these M25 service station works which no-one wanted should be mucking up people’s trips.

“The bride managed to get through in the end because other drivers must have guessed her predicament and there was no real harm caused.

“But I bet the other poor souls stuck in traffic were furious at this roadworks cock-up, which we were told wouldn’t happen.”

Cobham Farmers Market was forced to close in September last year due to the roadworks which are connecting pipes near the A3 to the M25 through the streets of Cobham and Downside.