Battle to reopen M25 on time after three-day closure

ROAD engineers were last night in a race against the clock to finish work that closed the M25 for three days.

- Helen Barnett

Commuters were hoping the upgrades, which saw a bridge demolished and gantry installed, had all gone to plan and that the road would reopen at 6am today as scheduled.

National Highways last night said workers had made "good progress" and that works "remain on schedule".

The motorway was closed in both directions in the five miles between junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey at 9pm on Friday in the first planned closure since the M25 opened in 1986.

Between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles an hour normally travel in each direction from 10am to 9pm on weekends between junctions nine and 11.

Delays