Witnesses are being sought after a man was killed by a lorry on the M25 in Kent early today.

The pedestrian, a man in his 40s from Swanley, was hit by the truck at about 3.30am and died at the scene.

It is unclear why the victim was on the road in the early hours of the morning.

The clockwise carriageway of the M25 was shut between J3 at the Swanley Interchange and J4 at Orpington for almost nine hours.

Commuters faced long delays during the rush-hour this morning as the M25 remained blocked for the Kent Police investigation.

The road was fully re-opened at about 1pm, but congestion remained.

Earlier, queues were stretching back to J2 at Dartford and traffic was diverted to rejoin the M25 at J5.

The extra traffic on the diversion had also been causing delays on roads including the M20, M26 and A20.

Emergency services were called to the scene at about 3.30am after the pedestrian was hit by the brown DAF truck.

Witnesses or anyone with information is asked to phone PC Jamie Woodhams, from the Kent Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit, on 01622 798538.