Lorries and buses barred from Ludlow centre until works complete

But a councillor who helped police get the large vehicles out of their tricky situation has said it should never have happened in the first place.

Ludlow's Castle Square, High Street and King Street had to be temporarily closed to enable the lorry to get out of the town centre the wrong way round the one-way system on Monday, and a coach of tourists had to be guided around narrow bends with just inches to spare.

The problem is that Brand Lane, a key part of Ludlow's one-way system linking Broad Street with Old Street, is currently having electricity and water connections installed.

Andy Boddington, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow North, said he and Ludlow Mayor Tim Gill had both warned something like this might happen.

He said: "This has been total chaos, there has been a lack of information and forethought.

"We have been arguing about these roadworks with Shropshire Council for weeks. A three-day closure of the only HGV exit from Ludlow town centre was always unacceptable.

"Tim Gill and I have warned about the disruption and the town council made an eleventh hour request for a rethink last week. This request was ignored.

"This was a great job on the part of our Ludlow policing team but frankly a stupid waste of their resources."

Gary Parton, Shropshire Council’s senior network manager, said any issues would be resolved by the end of today.

He said: “The current situation is that two works promoters, Western Power Distribution and National Grid Gas, have completed their new connections to the property on Brand Lane, and Severn Trent Water are on course to complete their connection work this evening.

“The works are being monitored, and additional signing to advise HGVS and large coaches have been positioned. Shropshire Council have also provided a resource to advise drivers of large vehicles of access restrictions,” he said.