The whole of the Bridgwater area was brought to a stand-still again this week when there was a major crash on the M5.

Police closed the southbound carriageway of the motorway just before J25 following a multiple crash on Monday, January 11, at just after 8am. A lorry along with three cars were badly damaged in the incident that also involved a motorcycle. The motorcyclist received medical attention at the scene for what is believed to be a spinal injury and was transferred to Musgrove Park Hospital.

The motorway was extremely busy at the time due to the rush hour and following the closure of more than two hours queues of traffic quickly built up all the way past J24 towards J23 at Dunball. The resulting traffic chaos forced vehicles off the motorway onto the A38 and A39 which also became congested with North Petherton and Bridgwater gridlocked.

Police reopened two lanes at around 10am after recovery vehicles had pulled the seriously damaged cars and lorries to the hard shoulder. Later the same morning another crash occurred near west-super-Mare on the north bound carriageway causing further delays.

It follows the crash last week of the tanker at J23 which shut the motorway for more than 12 hours calling into question the decision not to build a northern bypass for Bridgwater to alleviate congestion.