NOTTINGHAM City Council has apologised for "unacceptable" delays after tram construction roadworks overran on a busy city road.
Motorists faced lengthy rush-hour delays when University Boulevard stayed closed when work overran yesterday.
A council spokesman said: "Yesterday morning's disruption is clearly something we do our utmost to prevent. We're sorry about the frustration and delay caused by a combination of overrun tram works, accidents and bad weather.
"We will be speaking to the tram contractor about the unacceptable overrun on the overnight work and how this can be avoided in future."
A spokeswoman for contractors Taylor Woodrow Alstom, which is constructing Nottingham's two new tram lines, said: "Work on University Boulevard was scheduled to take place as part of a permitted night closure and the weather prolonged this overnight activity. We are very sorry for the disruption caused by this.
"We work hard to try and minimise the impact of our activities at all times. We currently have more than 40 working sites across the city and we are very disappointed that in this instance, we haven't done so successfully."
The situation was worsened by a two-car collision which caused the A52 Clifton Boulevard to be closed for more than an hour. One car flipped on to its roof and another was damaged at 7.20am. The road reopened at 8.45am.
The male driver of the overturned Toyota was taken to Queen's Medical Centre. The driver of the other car, a Daewoo, was unhurt.
The council spokesman added: "Once major roads start to become clogged, there is a limit to what we can do. Nottingham is particularly vulnerable to this, which is one of the reasons we invest so much in public transport improvements."
