Stock picture of the Dartford crossing

Commuters faced delays of up to half an hour after a lorry's tyres blew out at the Dartford crossing.

The crash in the west tunnel happened at about 5.30am, damaged the safety barrier and saw debris spew across the road.

The west tunnel was closed and traffic diverted through the larger east tunnel.

At 7.30am the Highways Agency opened the second lane of the west tunnel and all lanes were cleared by 8.30am.

But at 9am traffic was still backing up to junction three and traffic is not expected to get back to normal until 10am.

People reported heavy traffic through Dartford this morning as motorists tried to find ways to avoid the queues at the crossing.

A Highways Agency spokeswoman said: "We did all we could to get the crash cleared as quickly as possible."