Gridlock as stretch of M25 closes for the first time ever

Motorists have suffered gridlock in Surrey as a result of the first ever closure of a stretch of the M25 since the motorway circling London was completed in 1986.

- ANDY GREGORY SIMON CALDER

Cars were backed up for at least two miles on Britain's busiest motorway in the run-up to the five-mile closure between Junctions 10 and 11, National Highways said shortly before lunchtime yesterday.

Meanwhile, monitoring by Inrix suggested that there were around six miles of queues spanning more than half the length of the 11.5-mile official diversion route through Byfleet, West Byfleet, Woking and Ottershaw. However, National Highways South East estimated that the average journey time along the diversion route was 25 minutes, assuring drivers of minimal congestion – despite having strongly urged them to avoid driving if necessary.

And the motorway stretch became something of a tourism hotspot, as locals stopped to marvel at the emptiness of the highway after decades of ceaseless traffic. “It’s absolutely astonishing,” Simon Vassallo, who has lived in the area for 35 years, told The Independent. He was out early “to stock up on provisions” ahead of the traffic building up. “When we came across the bridge this morning, we just had to stop, take a few pictures and take in the marvel that is an empty M25.”