AN accident brought virtually all traffic around the Lakeside area to a standstill this afternoon, with some motorists reporting it was taking more than three hours to traverse an area of a couple of miles.

The accident happened on the A126 close to its junction with the A13 and one person was trapped following the crash involving a lorry and a car which happened around midday.

Firefighters attended the incident and were deployed alongside paramedics to help get the victim free of the wreckage, a feat achieved by 1.30pm.

However, it took another eight hours for emergency services to clear the site of the crash, causing massive congestion as traffic was gridlocked across the rest of the borough and back onto the M25.

One of the impacts of the congestion was that many supporters trying to attend Aveley FC's prestigious FA Trophy tie with Chesham United could not get to the Parkside ground on time.

It wasn't until just after 9pm this evening that the A126 was cleared and traffic began to get back towards normality.

Many motorists reported being trapped in Lakeside's car parks for several hours.