A pensioner being treated for breast cancer missed a chemotherapy appointment after gridlock in Dartford left her stuck in traffic for nine hours.

Ellen Rutt, 73, from Dartford, was being driven to Guy’s Hospital by her sister Elsie, 72, on
Tuesday, May 24, but more problems at the Dartford Crossing meant they never made it into London.

There were huge delays that morning after two lorries and a car crashed on the M25 clockwise at J1A for Swanscombe at around 7.20am.

With the Blackwall Tunnel out of use due to an oil spill, it meant congestion stretched back into Essex almost as far as J29 for the A127.

Mrs Rutt, who has been going up to Guy’s for treatment for years, said: “We were in traffic the whole time and could not even get out to go to the loo or get a drink.

“As soon as we got onto the M25 we got stuck and it was building in all directions. We could not move, the roads were absolutely manic.

“As soon as we got onto the M25 we got stuck and it was building in all directions. We could not move, the roads were absolutely manic." Ellen Rutt.

“We kept phoning the hospital to say we were still on our way, but eventually they had to cancel and I missed my chemotherapy appointment.”

Mrs Rutt’s journey from Runnymede Court in Lunedale Road, Dartford, where she lives with husband Arthur, 75, should usually take around 45 minutes.

The couple have lived there for 13 years having moved from Swaisland Road, also in Dartford, where they lived for 32 years.

“You can get up there to Guy’s in just over half an hour if the roads are clear, but they very rarely are,” explained Mrs Rutt.

“Coming back is trouble because everyone is coming home. The other week coming back from the bottom of Lowfield Street it took an hour to get to the end of the road.

“It is not just us, most people on this estate are affected, especially at the weekend when you get people going to Bluewater.

“Darent Valley Hospital is at the end of the road and there must have been plenty of patients late for their appointments there, too.”

Mrs Rutt’s experience is now headlining a Dartford council campaign to urge government ministers not to approve a new Lower Thames Crossing in the town.

The campaign, dubbed Postcards from the Traffic, will see postcards adorned with similar horror stories sent to ministers by council leader Jeremy Kite (Con).

Speaking last week, Cllr Kite said: “What is going on in Dartford today is beyond parody and you really could not make it up.

“What is going on in Dartford today is beyond parody and you really could not make it up." Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite.

“It angers me because if this was taking place in the Prime Minister’s constituency, or the Secretary of State for Transport’s constituency, things would have been fixed by now.”

Mrs Rutt is pleased to be part of the campaign as she believes her journey into the capital could get even worse if another crossing was built in Dartford.

She said: “It would be crazy to put another one in the same area because it would make the traffic even worse.

“It would be better further down because it would take some of it off the roads here.”

An announcement on the government’s preference between a crossing east of Gravesend or another at Dartford is expected later this year.