Multiple traffic incidents caused severe gridlock on the M25 motorway, with delays exceeding one hour for motorists across several sections, according to National Highways.
A multi-vehicle collision disrupted traffic clockwise from Junction 29 at the A127 Southend Arterial Road near Romford and Basildon to Junction 30 at the A282 near Lakeside and Purfleet.
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This led to major congestion toward the Dartford Crossing.
Emergency services responded to the scene, initially closing two lanes. Officials later managed to reopen all but one lane to clear the building queues.
"Lane 1 (of 4) is closed clockwise on the M25 between J29 GreatWarley and J30 Aveley following a multi-vehicle collision," National Highways stated.
The agency warned that drivers faced delays stretching up to 70 minutes as the remaining lane closure stifled traffic flow on the 117-mile-long orbital road.
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Separate Incident on Surrey and Kent Border
Separately, a disabled vehicle halted traffic further south on the Surrey and Kent border, completely blocking two lanes clockwise between Junction 5 and Junction 6.
The incident created an eight-mile tailback linking the A21 and M26 interchange to the A22 at Godstone before recovery teams could clear the route.
"There are delays in excess of 70 minutes on the approach with 8 miles of congestion," warned National Highways during the peak of the highway blockage.
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Although all lanes between Junction 5 and Junction 6 subsequently reopened, heavy residual congestion continued to impact the heavily used route.
