A PROTEST over the road death of a 13-year-old boy left motorists stranded in near-freezing conditions on the A127 for almost five hours.

Demonstrators blocked the A127 at Basildon from around 9.45pm by parking cars across two lanes of the road.

The group staged the protest close to where a teenage boy was knocked down and killed on Monday.

Several of the group were pictured standing on top of a 4x4 daubed with slogans in white paint.

In photos posted online one of the cars had the message "We want a footbridge - How may more?" scrawled across its side.

Police were called by members of the public at around 9.45pm with reports of the carriageway being blocked by parked vehicles.

The road was closed while police dealt with the incident and diversions were in place on the Southend bound track at the junction A1245/A129.

The London bound traffic was being turned down Pound Lane and through Burnt Mill back on to the A127.

An Essex Police spokeswoman said they worked hard to "achieve a resolution as quickly and safely as possible" and several diversions were put in place.

A helicopter was eventually scrambled to monitor the crowd and both carriageways on the London to Southend arterial road were closed until around 2.45am on Wednesday.

The road was reopened by about 2am.