TRAFFIC officers were left having to pray for rain and floods after a stranded boat caused the temporary closure of a slip road.

Highways England tweeted an image of the vessel, which was being towed by a van, as it blocked the entry to the A194M from the A182 near Washington, Tyne and Wear.

In a tweet sent on Monday morning, the government-owned company said: "We do not often pray for rain and floods to help us out.

"As we don't think the rain will come in a timely manner, we have arranged for our recovery to come and get the vessel back on the move."

After explaining that a recovery team would have to "rock this boat off to a safer location", Highways England later said the vessel had been moved to the nearby Washington Services, and that the slip road had been reopened.