10:28am Thursday 9th November 2006
By Michael Reilly
MOTORISTS suffered 10 miles of tailbacks yesterday after an accident in a tunnel of the Dartford Crossing.
The west tunnel was closed at 6.15am after a lorry collided with two ventilation fans on the ceiling.
The tunnel was reopened at 2.30pm.
Highways Agency's engineers repaired tiles and panelling along 300m of the roof.
There were 10-mile delays stretching back to junction 4 on the M25 while the tunnel was closed and traffic travelling anti-clockwise on the motorway had to use the east tunnel.
The HGV, which scraped the ceiling of the tunnel, was not badly damaged and was removed shortly after the incident. There were no other vehicles involved or injuries.
A Highways Agency spokesman said: "There was no fault with our equipment but we will be carrying out an investigation."
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