Motorists are facing traffic chaos and severe delays of up to two hours on the M25 after a pothole "the size of a car" appeared this morning.
A huge pothole which appeared clockwise between Junction 30 and 31 caused miles of tailbacks at the Dartford Crossing.
A spokesman for Essex County Council’s Traffic Control suggested the pothole, which appeared on on Thursday morning, was around the size of a car.
The M25 was temporarily shut in both directions at around 7.30am on Thursday as emergency repairs were carried out, with motorists facing delays of up to 40 minutes.
Although it was partially reopened while the road was tarmacked, two lanes remained closed at Junction 31 at 4pm.
Pictures taken at the scene show a huge part of the carriageway being repaired as queueing traffic reached up to 12 miles long.
Ahead of rush hour, some motorists said they had been “sitting stationary for nearly two hours”, while others said they had waited more than two hours to travel seven miles.
One person wrote: “Two-and-a-half hours to travel seven miles from the A127 M25 junction to Stone over the Dartford Bridge down to one lane before the bridge.”
Another motorist stuck in the delays said: “How big are these potholes at the Dartford Crossing been in traffic for an hour now back at the M11 junction!”
Posting pictures of the tarmacking taking place, another wrote: “Lakeside clockwise just experienced over two-hour delays. Absolute chaos. Repairing a pothole.”
She claimed there was a “total lack of traffic management” during the partial motorway closure.
At around 3.30pm, a spokesman for Highways England wrote: “M25 clockwise carriageway between the exit and entry slip roads at J31 West Thurrock, A1306.
“The road surface has been planed and levelled and tarmac has been completed. We need to allow the tarmac to cure and then white line. We will re-open as soon as possible.”
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