Two people have been arrested after a lorry overturned in a crash on the M25 and spilled waste across the motorway.
The affected stretch, between junction six (Godstone interchange, Surrey) and junction five (Chevening interchange, Kent), was partially reopened around 3.30pm on Wednesday after a collision between two lorries at approximately 3.46am.
The incident, involving a tanker carrying waste, overturned and ruptured. Surrey Police closed the anti-clockwise carriageway between junctions six and five as they investigated the serious collision and recovered the damaged vehicles.
An air ambulance was called to the scene. A man, who sustained serious injuries, was transported to hospital via an ambulance.
As part of its investigation into the collision, Surrey Police arrested a 30-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving without due care.
The carriageway closure caused significant disruption to traffic heading to and from key transport hubs, including Heathrow and Gatwick airports, the Port of Dover, and the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone.
National Highways reopened the road on Wednesday afternoon and confirmed oil, diesel and waste had spilled onto the carriageway.
The Government-owned company had warned drivers it was “highly likely this closure will be protracted as an extensive and complex clean-up and recovery operation will be required”.
Three lanes will be closed overnight for resurfacing.
