M25 left in chaos following two truck crashes

Motorists faced an evening of misery on the M25 after an accident involving two lorries left a section of the motorway closed for most of yesterday.

The early morning crash involving two HGVs and a car resulted in tailbacks of 14 miles along a clockwise section of the orbital route from junction six near Godstone in Surrey. This interchange was closed just after 7am and was later reopened, but vehicles were last night still queuing for about eight miles.

The crash comes on one the busiest weekends in the summer for travellers escaping the capital, with many sunseekers travelling to Gatwick airport believed to have also been caught up in the queues.

A spokesman for organisation Trafficmaster said: "With the rush hour, and people trying to get away from London, we've got about eight or nine miles of tailbacks."

The crash involved a BMW car, a lorry which shed its load of plasterboards and another HGV carrying two trucks, which turned on its side between junctions six and seven.

A man standing on the hard shoulder was hurt in the accident and taken to a nearby hospital with serious chest injuries.