National Highways has apologised to motorists after potholes were found on a new stretch of temporary surface on the A14 just days after it was reopened. 

The newly laid surface, which is temporary, has been met with lots of criticism after a number of potholes appeared in both the eastbound and westbound carriageways. 

National Highways says that the road surface is temporary with the final surface being laid in the summer 2024, just before the whole project is completed. 

A National Highways spokesman said: "We are aware of the potholes which appeared in the temporary surface on the westbound and eastbound carriageways and we are currently working on to understand the reason of this problem.

"We’ll continue to monitor both carriageways and carry out new repairs if necessary.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused to road users and we’ll inform you of the progress on our social media and website update.”

An emergency lane closure was put in place in the westbound carriageway on Friday. 

National Highways has confirmed that the eastbound carriageway will be closed between junction 43 near Bury St Edmunds and junction 51 near Needham Market from 8pm on Minday until 6am on Tuesday. 

Last week National Highways announced that over 16,500 tonnes of new asphalt road surface has been laid as part of the £37million scheme. 

The reconstruction of the carriageway between junction 47a at Haughley and junction 49 at Tothill began in mid-April. 

The project has reached its halfway point - with an end date set for summer 2024. 

Three-and-a-half kilometres of new drainage has also been installed, as well as 3.7km of new safety barriers. 

A contraflow system has now been installed on the eastbound carriageway in order to move onto the next phase. 

This will see lane two of the westbound carriageway repaired.