Drivers travelling from north Essex to Chelmsford could face snarl-ups when the area's biggest music festival gets going.

Diversions have been put in place to ease congestion around the county town ready for a deluge of thousands of revellers going to V Festival.

Motorists travelling from Colchester on the A12 and along the A414 London Road will be forced to find alternative arrangements from 9pm to 3am on Saturday and Sunday nights, when the road is closed to traffic.

Councillor Norman Hume, cabinet member for highways and transportation at Essex County Council said: "The V Festival is one of the country's most popular music events, attracting a huge audience every year.

"Therefore it is important for us to put traffic management in place, not only to aid the flow of festival traffic, but to make sure that disruption for local residents is kept to a minimum.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this causes during the event weekend."