Dartford Crossing tunnel closures to cause traffic chaos with section of M25 shut until Saturday morning

MOTORISTS are facing gruelling journeys to work with a section of the M25 shut until Saturday morning, after a collision which lead to the closure of the Dartford Crossing's two tunnels this morning.

The crash happened at roughly 6am and caused ten-mile tailbacks and lengthy delays.

The tunnels were only shut for 15 minutes but motorists were struck with intermittent lane closures to prevent queuing at the crossing.

Highways England is now warning of closures on the anti-clockwise carriageway tonight and tomorrow as safety barrier repairs are carried out.

A single lane of the M25 will be closed until 10pm tonight as a safety precaution.

From 10pm onwards the anti-clockwise carriageway will be fully closed between junctions 31 and 30.

Three narrow lanes will be open past where the barrier is being fixed tomorrow morning, but will be closed off from 11pm to 6am to complete the barrier repair.

The road is scheduled to be fully open again at 6am on Saturday.

Highways England has said the repairs are necessary because of safety concerns after this morning's collision.

A spokesman said: "The vehicles in this morning's incident were recovered quickly and there are now two lanes open past the scene.

"Highways England staff are working hard to repair the damage and get traffic back to normal on the Dartford Crossing.

"For safety reasons, to prevent stationary traffic in the tunnel itself, we are holding traffic at the tunnel entrances and releasing it in batches.

"We are advising drivers to check the latest conditions before setting out and to allow extra time for their journeys if they are affected by this incident."