DRIVERS faced tailbacks and delays for nearly two hours after yet another crash on the A14.

The accident happened on the same stretch of the dual carriageway as the two incidents a fortnight ago when the trunk road was closed for more than a day, causing chaos for motorists and gridlock in Ipswich.

The latest incident happened at 9.05am yesterday on the westbound carriageway near the Shell Garage on the approach to the Orwell Bridge when a trailer, believed to be towed by a van, came loose.

One vehicle then smashed into the trailer and in the ensuing chaos, four or five other vehicles were also involved in collisions and suffered damage.

Paramedics, police and the fire service attended the scene and the carriageway was closed to allow for recovery work.

Suffolk police said only minor injuries were suffered by drivers caught up in the incident. The road re-opened at 10.45am.

Trimley St Martin parish councillor Ian Cowan was one of those trapped in the tailbacks and missed an important appointment in Ipswich.

“It was interesting to observe what happened. Some police, fire and ambulance vehicles came along the A14, presumably from Felixstowe,” he said.

“Others headed east on the A14 to the roundabout and back up the Ransomes on-ramp. At our last parish council meeting we were told ‘the fire engines always get through’.

“This is true, but watching tightly packed cars and lorries trying to move out of the way to let them past meant that the emergency and life saving vehicles were travelling at perhaps five mph rather than 70mph.”

On October 3 the same stretch of the A14 was closed after a lorry overturned spilling thousands of onions across the carriageway.