TWO motorists were killed after another a day of carnage and traffic chaos on Suffolk's roads.One of the drivers who died was travelling the wrong way down the A14 in rush-hour traffic before his vehicle was in collision with an HGV.

TWO motorists were killed after another a day of carnage and traffic chaos on Suffolk's roads.

One of the drivers who died was travelling the wrong way down the A14 in rush-hour traffic before his vehicle was in collision with an HGV.

Chaos spanned a 10-mile stretch of the busy route following the accident, which happened at 9.20am near Elmswell, close to Bury St Edmunds. It was more than five hours before the Ipswich-bound carriageway fully reopened.

And motorists travelling to Thetford along the A134 yesterday afternoon also faced delays as police cleared the carnage from a second fatal accident, which saw a motorcyclist collide with a lorry at Barnham, on Suffolk's border with Norfolk.

It was the latest in a series of major delays to hit the A14 in the last week. Last Thursday, the A14 near Ipswich was brought to a virtual standstill after an accident – and it also resulted in gridlock in the town centre. And on Sunday, the road at Kirton was closed for a long period after a lorry overturned.

Although full details of yesterday's first incident are not yet fully clear, it appears the driver – whose details have not been released – was involved in an accident around 15 minutes earlier.

Police received reports his green Ford Mondeo had struck a works lorry in nearby Rattlesden before making its way onto the A14, where motorists said he had driven in a westerly direction on the eastbound carriageway. It came to a halt after colliding with a lorry.

A police spokesman has confirmed officers were not pursuing the man at the time of the smash.

"As a result of the collision, the Mondeo driver was pronounced dead at the scene," said the spokesman.

"Around 15 minutes prior to the collision on the A14, police did receive a report of the vehicle subsequently involved as being in a non-injury collision with a works lorry in Rattlesden. Police were aware and attended the scene."

Assistant divisional officer Laurence Mitchell, of Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, said: "When we arrived, the carriageway was completely blocked with traffic backed up all the way to Bury, and it was a pretty nasty scene.

"Local bystanders tried to assist, but there was not a lot they could do.

"As a fire service, we protected the scene to make sure the vehicles and everything else was safe, and remained there until the casualty had been released as he was trapped in the car.

"The chap in the lorry was shaken up by what happened, but was physically unharmed.

"It was quite unfortunate that more vehicles were not involved. Both carriageways on the eastbound carriageway were blocked, and if it had been foggy or wet, goodness knows what would have happened."

Anyone with information about the collision should contact Bury Traffic Unit on 01284 774100.

nPolice were called to two separate accidents on the A14 last night . At 5.40pm, officers attended the scene of a collision involving two cars on the A14 westbound carriageway at Nacton.

The road was not blocked and there were no reports of any serious injuries.

In another accident, police temporarily closed both carriageways near Newmarket just before the junction of the A142 following a lorry fire. The fire was extinguished and the road re-opened shortly afterwards.

Meanwhile, an HGV overturned on Orttewell Road in Bury St Edmunds yesterday after colliding with a bridge.

The incident, at around 11.10am, left traffic facing more chaos as the road was closed while the vehicle was recovered.

Although ambulance and fire crews attended the scene, the male driver escaped with only minor injuries.

And shortly after 6pm last night, a woman had to be rescued from her vehicle following a crash in Little Saxham, near Bury. Three fire engines from Bury attended the scene and the incident was over within an hour.