M25 lorry fire and oil spill causes rush hour chaos
A lorry fire and oil spill caused gridlock on the M25 on Tuesday (August 2) after the clockwise carriageway had to be closed entirely to traffic for around four hours. The incident between junction 8 at Reigate and junction 9 at Leatherhead caused traffic to queue all the way back to Clacket Lane services on the Surrey-Kent border and caused serious delays on surrounding roads. SurreyLive readers reported significant congestion on roads around Dorking and Reigate during the morning rush hour as traffic was diverted.
Vehicles that had been stuck between the two junctions were trapped on the road and had to wait from just after the incident began after 4am until around 9am before being allowed to proceed. One lane opened at around that time but the other three remained closed. National Highways said it expected the remaining lane closures to be in place until early evening or later.
READ MORE: M25 traffic updates following lorry fire and oil spill between Reigate and Leatherhead A spokesperson for Surrey Fire and Rescue Service told SurreyLive: “We received a call this morning around 4.10am to a report of a vehicle fire on the M25 between junctions 8 and 9. Three fire engines and a specialist vehicle were sent.
A lorry had caught fire, with the fire also affecting approximately 30 metres of nearby grass verge. The fire was tackled and crews left the scene around 5.10am.” SurreyLive has contacted the South East Coast Ambulance Service for comment.
At present there is no indication that anyone was injured in the incident. You can follow all the latest on the M25 lorry fire, with issues set to continue for much of the day, in our dedicated live blog. READ NEXT
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