TODAY it was a dangerous pothole causing long delays for motorists travelling out of Kent using the Dartford Tunnel.

The east bore of the tunnel was closed for around 15 minutes from 8:10am whilst Highway Agency engineers fixed the pothole to make the road safe.

It was re-opened again to traffic at 8:25am.

But despite the tunnel only being closed for a quarter of an hour, traffic was queuing back close to Junction 3 at the Swanley Interchange at 8:30am.

The slip roads at Junction 1A for Dartford and Junction 2 at the Darenth Interchange were also heavily congested as a result of the delays on the M25.

This is the third day this week motorists have faced lengthy delays heading anti-clockwise at the Dartford Crossing.

A crash just metres outside the Dartford Tunnel in Essex involving two lorries lead to a huge diesel spillage on Monday afternoon.

The road was closed for 12 hours whilst re-surfacing work was carried out and re-opened in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

This brought the M25 to a standstill, with the tunnels only letting traffic pass through intermittently and queues stretched back beyond Junction 4 at Orpington.

Yesterday (December 19), a crash soon after 7am close to Junction 31 in Essex saw the tunnels partially closed and the tolls lifted in a bid to relieve congestion.

It was not until 2:30pm that traffic started to flow normally again.