Ten miles of M25 traffic jam after serious lorry fire
One lane remains closed as huge lorry blaze causes up to three hours of delays
Queues of up to 10 miles are stretching across the M25, with drivers queuing for several hours after a huge lorry fire that resulted in two lanes closing between junctions five and six.
Surrey Police were notified of what has been described by National Highways as a “serious” lorry fire at around 01:00 Friday morning. The lorry was said to have been carrying a shipment of metal sheeting, with it taking until 03:00 for five specialist units to extinguish the blaze.
The incident resulted in two lanes being closed clockwise between junction five for Sevenoaks and junction six for Godstone. As of 10:00 on Friday, one lane remains closed, however, National Highways is reporting “severe delays of up to three hours” as traffic is backed up more than ten miles.
A pavement engineer is due to assess the scene and determine whether it is safe for traffic to drive on the now-closed lane one since the removal of the wreckage. National Highways says that “all lanes will be open throughout the day once recovery work has been completed”.
Still, huge queues mean that delays of up to 45 minutes are plaguing the neighbouring M26 which connects to the aforementioned junction five. A National Highways spokesperson has advised drivers to “allow extra time if travelling in the area”.
Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, which attended the scene alongside Kent’s own fire department, reported on Facebook and ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter) that, despite the severity of the blaze, “There are no casualties”.
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