'My 20-hour battle through the snow'

Adam Harley, who pulled on to the motorway at 1600 GMT on Thursday, tried to remain upbeat as he spoke to the BBC at the start of his 20th hour in the traffic jam.

He said: "I have moved 200 yards since 6am and I have seen two police cars in 12 hours.

" Nobody really has very much in the car in the way of drink or food "

"Luckily for me I filled up my car with petrol at about 8pm last night - when I pulled off for a sandwich at Stansted - but now I have nothing to eat or drink."

Mr Harley, who had been heading to Suffolk, said that he and fellow motorists were trying to remain cheerful and help each other through their ordeal.

"Somebody else came and sat in my car this morning because their battery had run out and they had run out of petrol to keep warm for a while," he said.

But he was unhappy about the authorities' response to their predicament, insisting they had done "absolutely nothing".

Snow storm

He said: "There's nothing - no news, no information - it's just quite amazing that with the weather forecast they haven't put the gritters out.

"I'm sure it wasn't just a freak snow storm that came last night and it was, by the way, only two inches of snow to cause such mayhem."

The motorists have no idea how long they could remain stranded, Mr Harley said.

"I flagged down a police car this morning, but 'there's a lot of people waiting' was his only response.

" Fortunately for me I've got some petrol in the car, so I do keep turning it on to keep myself warm "

"I think if nothing has happened by lunchtime I'll pull the car across and walk to wherever I can get to."

He said that people's patience was starting to wear thin as the hours ticked by.

"People have been getting out to walk and to keep themselves amused and have been talking to each other," he said.

"But nobody really has very much in the car in the way of drink or food, because you don't expect to be in the car for 16 hours."

Horror stories

But while Mr Harley was frustrated by the standstill, he said he was coping reasonably well.

"It's very cold, but fortunately for me I've got some petrol in the car, so I do keep turning it on to keep myself warm," he said.

And there was always the thought that things were even worse for other people.

"I heard on the radio earlier that there's a lady with a baby in the car and she's been stuck in it for 13 hours - so goodness knows what she's got up to," he added.