Cars diverted off Belswains Lane, that was partially closed on Monday for four weeks, are becoming a headache for residents.

The main road, in Nash Mills, is shut off for 50 metres between Bunkers Lane and Kingfisher Drive, forcing traffic into smaller side roads.

Meadow Road resident, Mr Jeff Morgan, said: "It's absolutely terrible.

There was a traffic jam last night that locked the road up solid."Few residents have drives so cars park in the road, which means there's only space for one car to drive up or down it at a time.

"The rush hour is chaos."

A Herts County Council spokeswoman said that officers had visited Meadow Road and Chambersbury Lane on Monday after calls from the public about traffic.

She said: "They noticed that drivers were driving on the grass, so a crew will install barriers to stop motorists from doing this.

"We will continue to monitor the situation and further inspections will be carried out."

National Grid predicts the closure to be in place for one month while it replaces cast iron gas mains with plastic pipelines.

Once the road closure is lifted, two and three-way traffic lights will be placed at the junction of Teal Way for a fortnight.

Mick Clements, project supervisor, said: "We have worked closely with the local authority in planning this work, which has been scheduled to coincide with the school holidays to keep any disruption to a minimum.

"We apologise for any inconvenience the temporary road closure and diversions may cause, but the work is essential to provide Hemel with continued safe and secure gas supplies. The new gas mains will have a lifespan of around 80 years if left undisturbed once they are in the ground."