Traffic chaos hit York city centre when traffic lights failed at evening rush-hour.

The lights at Walmgate Bar were out of action for more than two hours and were finally back on just after 6.30pm last night.

Traffic, coming from four different directions, was forced to carry out the precarious manoeuvre of negotiating the junction without the lights.

A City of York Council spokesman said that a council engineer was despatched to the scene immediately following the report of the traffic light failure.

A fault was found with the electrics and the company employed by the council to deal with such problems was called in. The council spokesman said: "We would like to thank motorists for their patience and courtesy which helped to ensure the situation was no worse than it actually was.

"It was a one-off fault which did not affect any other parts of the city."

Updated: 10:36 Wednesday, June 27, 2001