A “serious” lorry fire has caused significant traffic delays of up to two-and-a-half hours on a stretch of the M25. National Highways has reported a 12-mile (19.3km) backlog of traffic between junction five near Sevenoaks in Kent and junction six near Godstone in Surrey.
Two lanes of the clockwise carriageway have been closed, with the police notified of the incident at around 01:30 on Friday morning. The Surrey Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that it had extinguished the blaze at around 03:15, and no casualties have been reported.
As of 09:00, there was still one lane closed but the “severe delays” remained, says traffic monitoring site Inrix. Drivers heading westbound on the M26 towards junction five on the M25 have been experiencing delays of up to an hour.
The A25 through Sundridge, Oxted, and Godstone has also been affected, and experts believe it will take some time to return the affected area to normal.
National Highways stated that the lorry’s load had been removed by 09:15, enabling the recovery of the vehicle to begin. Surrey Fire and Rescue Service attended the incident with Kent Fire and Rescue Service, but so far there have been no reported injuries.
The official state of the situation remains unchanged at present, with ongoing congestion and lane closures continuing to cause significant delays
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