M25 partially closed after waste lorry overturns in collision

A section of the M25 motorway is closed because of a crash involving two lorries.

National Highways said part of the road around Greater London will be closed throughout the Wednesday morning peak traffic period anti-clockwise from junction 6 (Godstone Interchange, Surrey) to junction 5 (Chevening Interchange, Kent).

This is affecting thousands of vehicles heading to or from locations such as Heathrow and Gatwick airports, the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone.

A tanker involved in the collision was transporting waste and has “overturned and ruptured”, National Highways said.

The Government-owned company said oil, diesel and waste has spilled on the carriageway which means it is “highly likely this closure will be protracted as an extensive and complex clean-up and recovery operation will be required”.

It also said the road will “likely to need resurfacing before it can be reopened”.

A diversion route has been created using A roads and traffic caught within the closure is being released past the crash site.

National Highways reported the incident at 4.14am on Wednesday and said shortly after 7am there were delays of 40 minutes on the approach to the closed section.