Long queues have built up in northeast London following a serious collision (National Highways)
A serious collision has shut a large section of the M25, creating huge tailbacks and leaving drivers trapped in queues for hours.
The busy motorway was closed for more than four hours on Monday following the crash on an anti-clockwise section between Junction 28 (Brentwood) and Junction 27 (Epping).
National Highways warned that seven miles of congestion built up as drivers remained trapped for hours before slowly being released from the busy motorway.
It earlier said that an air ambulance was sent to the scene along with other emergency services.
A crash is believed to have happened at around 11am on Monday morning.
The issue also sparked long queues on nearby roads. There were also delays on the M11 southbound, with journeys taking an hour longer than normal due to four miles of congestion on Monday afternoon.
An Essex Police spokesperson said: “We are currently at the scene of a serious collision on the anti-clockwise carriageway of the M25 between junctions 27 and 28.
“There is significant disruption in the area and we are expecting this to continue for a number of hours with possible road closures on both carriageways.
“Please avoid the area if you can and plan accordingly.”
A alert on the crash, on the National Highways website at 3.30pm, read: “The M25 in Essex is closed anti-clockwise between J28 (for the A12, near Brentwood) and J27 (for the M11, near Epping) due to a serious collision.
“Traffic has been released on the clockwise carriageway, lane 4 (of 4) remains closed.
“Emergency services including Essex Police are in attendance. National Highways Traffic Officers are also on scene assisting with traffic management.
“Traffic caught within the closure on the anti-clockwise carriageway is being released past the scene in lane 1.
“There are long delays on approach to the closure on the anti-clockwise carriageway with 7 miles of congestion and 4 miles of congestion on approach to the clockwise carriageway.
“There are also delays on the M11 southbound, currently 60 minutes above normal travel times with 4 miles of congestion.”