Drivers face mounting queues on the M25 in Kent after a major lorry spill has closed a stretch of the motorway.
Friday traffic on the M25 is off to a sticky start after the spillage between junction J5 (Sevenoaks) and J4 (Bromley) this morning.
A chunk of the UK’s busiest motorway is closed anti-clockwise towards Dartford after a broken-down HGV spilt hundreds of litres of fuel on all three lanes.
Diversion routes have been set up, but drivers should brace for delays in the area.
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The road is expected to remain closed until at least the afternoon, National Highways warned.
Traffic congestion is backing up towards junction 6 and the A22 in Surrey, and down along the A21 past Chipstead.
It said: ‘The M25 is closed anti-clockwise between Junction 5 (Sevenoaks) and Junction 4 (Bromley) due to emergency resurfacing following an earlier broken down HGV which spilled a significant amount of fuel (250 litres) across all 3 lanes.
‘Recovery is complete and a pavement engineer has been on scene to confirm resurfacing is required for all 3 lanes. This is likely to be a protracted job and the closure is to remain in place until at least this afternoon.
‘This may cause significant delays today due to holiday-returning traffic and we advise road users to plan ahead accordingly.’
The diversion routes are also likely to be busy, the highways authority said.
M25 closure diversion route
While most navigation apps tend to update after incidents, here is the exact diversion route from National Highways:
- Follow the hollow square diversion symbol
- Exit the M25 at Junction 5 and join the A21 towards Sevenoaks.
- On the A21 take the 1st exit onto the A25 towards Riverhead
- At the roundabout at Riverhead take the 1st exit to remain on the A25.
- At the next roundabout, take the 1st exit onto the A224 towards Bromley.
- Continue on the A224 across the M26 and M25 and at the Morants Court Cross roundabout take the 3rd exit and stay on the A224 towards Bromley.
- Follow the A224 to the Hewitts roundabout and take the 5th exit to to join the M25 link to J4.
- At the J4 roundabout take the 1st exit to rejoin the M25.
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