SEVERN Trent bosses say Hagley Road in Stourbridge should be fully re-opened by tonight (Tuesday February 5).

The busy gateway road to the town has been closed to traffic, from Union Street to the ring road, since Sunday for work to fix a leaking water main to be carried out.

But impatient motorists have reportedly been ignoring the closure signs and continued to drive along the road.

Dudley Council’s network manager Andrew Sumner said: “We have received reports that the traffic management has been vandalised by members of the public who have ignored the road closed signs and driven through this route.

“We have contacted Severn Trent Water and they will be either reinstate the traffic management, if additional cure time is required, or remove if no longer needed.”

A spokesman for Severn Trent said the leaking pipe was fixed on Sunday night and added: “We’re now working to get the road surface put back to normal.

“We hope that all of the work will be done and all traffic management gone by tonight.

“Obviously we’d like to apologise for any inconvenience and thank everyone for their patience while we did this emergency work.”