Traffic came to a standstill after a HGV broke loose from a flat-bed lorry and crashed into the central reservation on the Darenth Interchange in the early hours of this morning.

The vehicle was travelling on the M25 anti-clockwise when one of three new lorries slipped off smashing into the concrete barrier and taking out three motorway lights.

Two lanes of the carriageway were closed while emergency crews cleared debris from the scene of the accident which happened at about 3.30am.

No other vehicle was involved. It is not known of there were any injuries.

Jason O'Reilly, crew manager at Dartford Fire and Rescue, said :"It was lucky it happened at that time when there was not much traffic around. Any other time and it could have been carnage