Vodafone, the company responsible for three-mile tailbacks on the Helston to Falmouth road on Tuesday morning has been fined a whopping £80.

Cornwall Council confirmed they had issued Vodafone with the Fixed Penalty Notice of £80, the maximum sanction they can legally apply on a statutory authority.

They were fined because the traffic lights put in place should have been manually operated during rush hour to ease traffic.

Delay of up to 30 minutes in solid traffic were experienced by some motorists on the A394 on Tuesday.

A spokesperson from Cornwall Council said: "The emergency works at Longdowns are being carried out by Vodafone.

"The Council has no power to veto emergency works carried out by utility companies.

"After the delays experienced by motorists yesterday, our inspector has been on site to tell them that the temporary traffic lights that have been put in place to carry out the works need to be manually controlled during the morning and evening rush hour.

"We received assurances from Vodafone that the lights would be manually controlled this morning. The works are due to be completed later today."

A spokesperson for Vodafone said: "Emergency repairs to a chamber in Longdowns meant that we were obliged to install temporary lights on Monday.

"Weather conditions prevent the completion of the work yesterday (Tuesday) but it has now been completed and the road is fully open.

"We’re sorry that road users were delayed during these emergency works."