COMMUTERS travelling to London endured major delays today after two crashes closed part of the M25 for nearly four hours.

COMMUTERS travelling to London endured major delays today after two crashes closed part of the M25 for nearly four hours.

The first collision occurred between two cars and a lorry at around 6am on the anti-clockwise carriageway just before the M11 junction.

That area of the London Orbital was already reduced to two lanes due to large-scale road works taking place to widen the motorway.

And it is thought many more commuters opted to drive today because of the rail strikes which severely limited services on the lines.

A smash between two lorries then took place in the ensuing tailbacks, which stretched back 16 miles to the Lakeside area.

No motorists or passengers were injured, but the lorries were badly damaged.

Efforts to recover them were hampered because there was no hard shoulder.

The road did not re-open until around 10am.

A spokesman for Essex police said: “This was a difficult recovery because both lanes were blocked and there was no hard shoulder.

“Traffic was particularly heavy at the time, possibly because more people were driving due to the rail dispute.”