There are long tailbacks after an accident involving a car and a lorry.

Traffic is queued back along the M25 after the west tunnel at the Dartford crossing was shut off from Kent into Essex.

All lanes reopened just before noon, but there is heavy congestion as the backlog clears.

Vehicles are queueing back along the M25 to the Swanley turn off.

The accident is said to have happened at the tunnel exit, on the Essex side, and all traffic was diverted to the east tunnel for around an hour.

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said: "We were called at 9.14am to an incident involving a car and a lorry. Two patients were treated at the scene. Both were conscious and breathing. They were taken to Basildon and Thurrock Hospital."

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “Essex Police attended a collision involving a lorry and a Ford Focus on the M25 Dartford crossing (West Thurrock) this morning, August 23, at 9.15am.

"The Ford driver and passenger were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.

"The road was closed until 10.48 am.”