Long queues have formed on the A127 this morning after a piece of plant machinery broke down. 

The machinery is blocking one lane of the Londonbound carriageway after getting stuck at around 7.30am this morning. 

It has broken down between Rayleigh Weir and the Fairglen Interchange. 

Traffic is said to be heavy and is affected several miles back to the Nestuda Way/ Prince Avenue roundabout. 

Surrounding roads in Rayleigh and the A13 are also experiencing heavy traffic. 

Essex Highways has tweeted to confirm a lane remains closed as of 8.50am due to the stranded machine. 

It said: "Apologies to all drivers affected - night work road resurfacing crew suffered machine breakdown, one lane still closed for safety of drivers."

Update 10.30am

There are still several miles of queues on the A127 Londonbound and the machinery is still understood to be blocking a lane. 

The break down has caused a delay to resurfacing works which were taking place overnight. 

Eurovia Contracting, which is in charge of the works, tweeted: "Due to overrunning surfacing works on the A127 Rayleigh Weir, a London bound lane closure is still in place, impacting traffic in Southend, where our Bell Junction upgrade works are taking place.

"Please check before you travel and allow for longer journey times."