Highways officers have explained why motorists faced a “terrifying” commute with no traffic lights at a major junction this morning.

There was congestion at one of the town’s busiest junctions, where the A405 North Orbital Road meets St Albans Road and Horseshoe Lane, as the traffic lights stopped working this morning (January 18).

Hertfordshire County Council has since revealed that the issue had been the result of a crash and a light has had to be removed.

A spokesperson said: “We can confirm that traffic lights at the Harvester junction, St Albans Road, Garston, were not working this morning due to damage caused by a road traffic collision.

“Our highways crews attended, and the traffic lights were back on mid-morning.

“A signal pole had to be removed for safety reasons and will be replaced as soon as possible.”

Motorists warned others via social media after having to navigate the junction without any lights during their commute, with one describing the experience as "terrifying".

The issue is unrelated to the ongoing weekend closure at the same junction, which are for Leep Electricity Networks Ltd to install a new service connection.

It is next set to close from January 19 to 22 and the same closure will be in place from January 26 to 29 and February 2 to 5.

It is understood that the road could potentially then close from February 16 to 19, if it is not possible to complete all the necessary works over the previous weekends.