A seven car pile-up on the A12 in last night’s rush hour caused 12 miles of tailbacks and hours of misery for motorists.

East Anglian Daily Times: The scene of an accident on the northbound A12 at Marks Tey. Queueing traffic on the A12 past Kelvedon.The scene of an accident on the northbound A12 at Marks Tey. Queueing traffic on the A12 past Kelvedon. (Image: Archant)

The accident on the northbound carriageway between J24 Kelvedon North and J25 Marks Tey happened at around 4.30pm yesterday, although drivers were still stuck in congestion at gone 8pm.

There were no injuries as a result of the accident, which started with a collision between a Peugeot 206 and a Ford Ka.

However, traffic was queueing back to J19 Boreham Interchange for hours after the incident, with motorists caught up in the chaos venting their anger on social media.

Richard Evans - @Richard6ft5 - wrote on Twitter: “That was the longest drive home i have ever done! 1hr 30mins from #Maldon to #Colchester”

Another Twitter user, Lewis Burrell - @lew_63 - added: “Avoid the A12 - especially northbound up to Colchester. Apparently more than 12 mile tailbacks to A130 interchange - it’s a car park!”

As well as long delays northbound, motorists on the opposite carriageway also faced delays as people stopped to get a look of the aftermath.

Traffic also ground to a halt on and around slip roads onto the A12.

Firefighters attended the scene and gave first aid to casualties and ensured the scene was safe. They had completed their work at the scene by 5.05pm.

All lanes on the northbound carriageway had reopened by 7pm, although it still took more than an hour for the chaos to clear.

Nathan Prentice - @NPrentice91 - wrote on Twitter - “Crash on A12 by Marks Tey come off at Witham and queue looks like it to goes on for quite a while o dear !!!”

Another Twitter user, @swatts74, wrote: “Been stuck for last 45 mins on a12. People out of cars. Think this is a bad one”