Motorists face travel chaos on the M25 this afternoon following a serious road collision at the Essex side of the Dartford tunnel.

Traffic is currently queuing for eight miles anticlockwise after police closed the east side of the tunnel,, with congestion stretching back as far as junction three.

Police are appealing for information following the collision which involved a single motorcycle being ridden by a man and a woman.

Officers were contacted at 12.25pm to reports of the black and silver Suzuki GSX losing control.

The rider, a man in his 20s, and his pillion, a woman also in her 20s, received serious injuries and were taken by ambulance to Darent Valley Hospital in Kent. The woman’s condition was initially described a life threatening but has ince improved. Both are from Romford.

Motorists are advised to be aware of delays from Kent in to Essex and asked road users not rubberneck but continue on their journey to allow a continuous flow of traffic.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at the Chigwell road policing unit on 0300 333 4444.

A Highways Agency spokesperson said: “The east bore of the Dartford Tunnel is currently closed while Kent Police investigate an incident that occurred there earlier this afternoon. In the meantime, the Highways Agency has temporarily suspended all charges for northbound traffic on the crossing until further notice.

“The decision was made at 3.40pm to help ease the exceptionally long queues which have built up as a result of the incident and also to reduce the risk of minor collisions in queuing traffic.

“We are doing all we possibly can on what is routinely a very busy period at the crossing.”

Closer to home, a lane of the A12 has been closed at Copdock because of a broken down lorry.

Traffic is queuing back to the Capel St Mary junction of the northbound carriageway. There were also delays on the A12 at Copdock earlier this afternoon because of a broken down lorry, but the road has since been cleared.

There are otherwise few major hold-ups on the county’s roads and no reported timetable alterations on mainline trains.