A THREE vehicle pile-up on the A14 just west of Bury St Edmunds is causing traffic chaos this morning, with police not expecting to reopen the trunk road until some time after midday.

Russell Claydon

A THREE vehicle pile-up on the A14 just west of Bury St Edmunds is causing traffic chaos this morning, with police not expecting to reopen the trunk road until some time after midday.

Traffic is currently crawling along as far back as Newmarket - 11 miles away - due to the closure of the eastbound carriageway into Suffolk.

Motorists are subsequently being urged to steer clear of the area while a crane is at the site lifting an articulated lorry clear of the road.

A single-decker public coach, a lorry and a van all collided on the westbound carriageway, with the lorry turning over and completely blocking the eastbound carriageway to Newmarket at 7.15am today.

The driver of the lorry was described as “severely trapped” by firefighters who attended the scene and they had to use specialist cutting gear to free them.

The bus is not believed to have been carrying any passengers at the time of the impact and remained upright off the side of the highway.

Meanwhile the van, the other vehicle involved, remained on the carriageway, also in an upright position, following the collision.

The lorry driver has now been taken to hospital for what police have now described as “not life threatening injuries”, but they are still thought to be of a serious nature.

A motorist travelling from Bury St Edmunds to Newmarket as the drama unfolded this morning said she saw someone being put on a stretcher at the scene. The woman, who did not want to be identified, described the stretch of carriageway she travels through on a daily basis as a “nightmare”.

Officers have shut down the eastbound A14 carriageway at Risby while they await recovery of the articulated lorry, which is to be done by crane. Traffic is able to move slowly through the westbound stretch now, but severe delays are being broadcast.

Drivers were originally being diverted from the A14 onto the A11 and then the A1101 at Fiveways and sent onto the B1106, taking them back onto the A14 at Westley.

But now traffic officers are sending vehicles off the shorter C629 Newmarket Road, near Risby, which loops back onto the A14.

A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said: “We are urging motorists to try to avoid the area if at all possible.”

Check back on this website for details of when the road reopens.