by Jamie Bullen

jbullen@thekmgroup.co.uk

A lane on the M25 has reopened several hours after a lorry shed its load.

The Highways Agency says all four lanes were open by 1.30pm.

But the anti-clockwise entry slip road, where the incident took place at junction 1a (Swanscombe and Erith), still remains closed due to recovery operations.

The lorry shed 45 tonnes of scrap metal which caused severe delays across north Kent. It happened on an entry road near Dartford Crossing (the A282), at 7.30am. Police closed all lanes.

Drivers faced three hour delays as traffic officers also closed one motorway lane on the M25 at junction 1A (Swanscombe and Erith), as traffic backed up.

Congestion worsened after a four car collision on the M25 close to the crossing at 10.30am. There were no injuries.

The agency said conditions are improving after traffic stretched back to junction 4 (Bromley), earlier this morning.