Council chiefs have demanded an explanation from Thames Water after the centre of Twickenham was brought to a standstill across the weekend.

There was chaos on Saturday when temporary traffic lights around works in King Street at the junction with London Road failed with the result they were stuck permanently on red.

The problem coincided with a huge local derby for Harlequins against London Irish at the Stoop and the Premier League game in Brentford, which attracts fans from across the borough.

Richmond Council said: "The traffic issues were a result of the failure of traffic lights which Thames Water had in place to facilitate works.

"The Council will be asking Thames Water to give an explanation for the failure and the on-going issues with the light-phasing throughout the weekend."

One victim of the jams complained: "I sat in traffic for an hour at the junction of Heath Road/King St between 1pm and 2pm.

"I have an autistic son who was going into meltdown. I called 101 to see if the police could intervene."

Another said: "We came through the junction early evening and it was chaos on Heath Road, I had to dodge a police car travelling on the wrong side of the carriageway."

Another blasted: "I'd like to meet the idiot who designed the temporary traffic lights there … Just spent an hour stuck in traffic between Tesco Express by the Green and Sandys."

One person using public transport said: "I was stuck on a bus from Teddington for 45 minutes last night, enroute to Richmond tube for a concert at the Albert Hall... The traffic lights stuck at red for far too long - around 5 minutes - we need a named person!"

A number of people criticised Richmond Council for allowing Thames Water to carry out the work on a busy weekend. They suggested it should have been done at night.

Thames Water did not respond to requests for a comment.