A huge car transporter burst into flames and forced the closure of a major section of the M25 this morning.
The HGV carrying nine cars was engulfed by fire shortly after 7am on Saturday.
Seven crews of firefighters were dispatched from east London and Essex to tackle the blaze while motorists sat in lengthy tailbacks.
A spokeswoman for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said: “Firefighters are tackling a fire between junctions 28 and 27 of the anticlockwise carriageway of the M25.
“The fire has engulfed a car transporter carrying nine cars. On arrival the incident commander reported that the transporter was completely alight.”
She added the lorry was on the hard shoulder but heat from the flames had damaged at least one motorway lane.
She also said crews’ efforts had been hampered by poor water supply. No injuries were reported.
Delayed motorists vented their frustration on Twitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Looks like the M25 wants to have a say in how long it takes me to get to the Essex Derby today. — Andrew Soul (@Andrew_Shrimper) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Andrew_Shrimper/status/695908014235258880" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3174481-https://twitter.com/Andrew_Shrimper/status/695908014235258880" data-vars-event-id="c23">February 6, 2016</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">So if you want to get anywhere today don't use anti-clockwise M25 jct 28 — Liz Skudder (@LizSkudder) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/LizSkudder/status/695907619354050564" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3174481-https://twitter.com/LizSkudder/status/695907619354050564" data-vars-event-id="c23">February 6, 2016</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/M25_Traffic" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3174481-https://twitter.com/M25_Traffic" data-vars-event-id="c23">@M25_Traffic</a> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/m25?src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3174481-https://twitter.com/hashtag/m25?src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#m25</a> fleet of Peugeot on fire on the back of a transporter <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://t.co/P5AQ5GRQLQ" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3174481-https://t.co/P5AQ5GRQLQ" data-vars-event-id="c23">pic.twitter.com/P5AQ5GRQLQ</a> — Gavin hill (@G88hill) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/G88hill/status/695884488396685312" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-3174481-https://twitter.com/G88hill/status/695884488396685312" data-vars-event-id="c23">February 6, 2016</a>
Another posted: "Well over an hour into this traffic jam and its got to the point were the van drivers are now out and polishing their lights... Longhaul"
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