M25 reopens after 10-hour closure

Plasterboard was strewn across the road at the accident scene

All lanes of the M25 in Surrey have reopened after a four-vehicle crash in the morning rush hour closed a large section of the motorway for 10 hours.

There were tailbacks from the crash site between junctions six and seven clockwise which stretched for 15 miles into Kent.

All lanes had reopened by about 1900 BST, according to the Highways Agency.

A man in his 20s was taken to hospital with serious chest injuries following the accident at 0730 BST.

The pile-up between Godstone and the M23 turn-off involved two lorries, a van and a car.

'Difficult clear-up'

Fire teams said 30 tons of plasterboard was strewn across the carriageway.

Traffic had to be diverted off the motorway at junction six while investigations and a recovery operation took place.

A Highways Agency spokesman said: "There was somebody badly injured so it became a police investigation.

"After that it was a very difficult clear-up, with three large vehicles and a car plus lots of debris across the carriageway."

One lorry ended up lying across two lanes of the carriageway.

Traffic was queuing for 15 miles back into Kent at one point

The spokesman added that the vehicles yet to be recovered were now coned off in the one lane still closed to traffic.

"Once it starts moving it should be about another hour before the traffic at the back [around junction five in Kent] starts coming through," he added.

The closure led to severe delays for motorists heading for Gatwick Airport via the M23.

Travellers were advised to use alternative routes or public transport.

The Association of British Travel Agents said it was clear some people would miss their flights, and it said they should contact their airline directly and not give up trying to make it to the airport.

BBC Radio Kent presenter Julie Maddocks was one of the drivers stuck on the M25 on the way to Gatwick.

She said traffic ground to a halt at Clacket Lane services where there were "a lot of irate drivers".