A footbridge the length of five double-decker buses has been sent through the Dartford tunnel, making it the crossing's longest ever load.

Traffic was held for three minutes as the 41-metre structure made its way underneath the Thames at around 7pm on Saturday, May 11.

It was travelling towards Southend in Essex.

It formed part of a carefully-planned operation between Highways England, Essex Police and Dartford Crossing operators Connect Plus Services.

Today, drivers are facing 12-mile queues on the very same stretch of road following a diesel spillage this afternoon.

Linking the two ends of the M25 together, the crossing and its approach roads are classified as the A282 so that vehicles prohibited from motorways can use it.

The QE2 Bridge saw another large vehicle last year, when a huge National Grid transformer made its way over the structure.

A 232-tonne transformer the size of a house was also taken over the bridge last month, transported on a specialist vehicle 58 metres long.

Its journey from Tilbury docks to Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire took 41 hours over two days, travelling at 20 miles per hour.

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