M25 reopens after giant pothole caused traffic chaos

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Stephen Simpson/REX (4244281a) Traffic officer next to the pothole Three lanes of M25 closed after section of road collapses, Surrey, Britain - 14 Nov 2014 Three lane sof the M25 have been closed, causing masive traffic congestion and tailbacks, after a pothole appeared in the early hours of the morning. Surrey Police said many vehicles had been left with damaged tyres after the road surface near Leatherhead fell in during heavy rain at about 05:30 GMT.

The M25 has reopened after a section of road appeared to collapse in heavy rain on Friday.

Britain's busiest motorway saw traffic chaos when a one-foot-deep pothole appeared resulting in three lanes being closes between junctions 9 and 10 in Surrey.

The BBC reports that AA president Edmund King has called for an investigation into what went wrong.

He described the M25 as the "road to hell" on Friday and said there needed to be a "thorough investigation into this incident".

"It is disappointing that not only did the road fail, but it placed many drivers in danger and also reportedly damaged a number of vehicles.

"If this happened on the railways, passengers could claim compensation."

A spokesman for the Highways Agency told the Daily Telegraph an investigation had been launched to determine whether the bad weather caused the road surface to collapse.

"We have launched an investigation to find out how this took place," the spokesman said.

"Workmen have had to dig up the road again and reconcrete it."

There were reports that the potholes appeared after maintenance had been carried out on that stretch of road overnight.

While heavy rain made driving conditions hazardous on Friday, the Environment Agency and AA urged drivers to be "flood-aware" as a survey showed that, despite the wettest winter on record, more than two-thirds of men and half of women would still risk driving through flood water.