Replication of DNA must be carried out to completion in order for a cell to proliferate. Replication forks can stall for a variety of reasons, including protein “roadblocks” and DNA lesions. In these circumstances the replisome copying the DNA can disengage from the chromosome. A variety of repair processes must then follow if the DNA integrity is to be restored and DNA replication restarted. Recovery from DNA replication fork blockage and collapse is a fundamental survival strategy for all living cells as without it cells cannot divide. The aim of this study is to understand these processes. A system utilising a site-specific reversible protein block and temperature sensitive replisome components has been employed to stall and collapse replication forks. The initial stages for processing and recovery of the DNA replication intermediates in living E. coli cells have begun to be elucidated using recombination protein mutants, fluorescent microscopy and 2-dimensional agarose gel electrophoresis. It has now been found that the stalled DNA replication machinery does not pause at a block in a stable confirmation for an extended period of time as previously postulated but instead fork regression and processing is nearly immediate. Furthermore, the roles of the recombination proteins that are involved in these processes have begun to be redefined including elucidating the proteins responsible for reversing the blocked fork into an intermediate for processing by recombination.