Junctions 7A and 8 of M11 WILL close again – and bridges at Bishop's Stortford to shut once more for repairs

National highways chiefs have admitted there WILL be more closures of the M11 between junctions 7A and 8 – and bridge works at the Bishop's Stortford interchange (J8) will resume in April and over the first May bank holiday weekend.

Closure of the motorway northbound between 7A (Harlow/Sheering) and 8 at the weekend (Mar 3-6) caused chaos in the area, with villages around the new junction jammed with diverted traffic.

There were reports of queues of vehicles through Sheering as motorists were diverted back to J8, sparking a furious reaction from residents.

A spokesman for National Highways told the Indie on Monday there would be no further closures between 7A and 8, but on Tuesday updated us to say there would be one more weekend closure northbound, yet to be scheduled.

He apologised for the impact of the closure at the weekend but added: "It was publicised beforehand and, as I’m sure you can appreciate, the closure of a motorway for essential maintenance is always going to cause disruption, but it is an unfortunate consequence of keeping roads in a safe condition for the millions of people that use them."

Night-time closure of the M11 between junctions 8 and 10 (Duxford) will continue, with the next being from Monday to Friday, March 20-25.

Essential bridge resurfacing and repair work at J8, which saw the north and south bridges closed on separate occasions, began last year and led to drivers being sent on diversions of up to 30 miles.

The work was paused over the winter, but two planned weekend closures are looming: 9pm on Friday April 21 to 5am Monday April 24 followed by 9pm Friday April 28 to 5am bank holiday Monday May 1.