A petition calling for action over traffic chaos every time Dartford Crossing is closed has been launched.

A petition demanding a plan be put in place to minimise disruption caused whenever the Dartford Crossing is closed has been launched.

Thousands of motorists heading to and from the A12 through Essex and Suffolk are caught in horrendous delays every time there is a problem on the M25 at the Thames crossing.

Now, a petion has been launched on the 38 Degrees website asking agencies involved in dealing with the aftermath of serious incidents on the M25 at the Thames crossing to prepare better.

It calls on Thurrock Council, Highways England and Essex Police to “stop Thurrock gridlock during QE2 bridge closures” and to “come up with a plan to avoid future disruption caused by closure of the bridge, both on the M25 and local surrounding roads (Thurrock/Lakeside/Grays/Purfleet) while we are waiting for the construction and opening of the new Lower Thames Crossing which will take at least ten years to be in operation, and improve the speed at which accidents are dealt with and clean up operations are put in place.”

On Tuesday thousands of people were caught in horrendous logjams after an overturned lorry blocked the Crossing.

One lorry toppled over an embankment, hanging precariously over a slip road near the QEII bridge. Although just two drivers suffered minor injuries, motorists on the M25 and on both sides of the crossing approach were left stuck in their cars for more than seven hours before lanes were re-opened.

The petiton adds: “This is becoming more frequent as the area gets busier and more development takes place. There must be plans in place to stop total and utter gridlock to our area.

“This not only disrupts local residents, it is detrimental to all the business who operate out of this area. So many hours are lost due to sitting in unnecessary traffic jams. Something must be done.”

Essex Police, Thurrock Council and Highways England have been approached for comment.

The crossing, which handles more than 150,000 crossings a day, has seen several incidents recently, In March this year a crash between three lorries closed the M25 in Kent near junction 1a for about nine hours, leading to queues of around eight miles back into Essex.

In November 2017 a crash on the M25, which completely shut the QEII Bridge caused traffic chaos for Essex commuters.