M25 tops dangerous roads list

The M25 is today named as Britain's most dangerous and congested road, plunging a record number of commuters into chaos each day of the working week.

A new league table of the nation's key motorways shows that the M25 had 69 serious incidents in November, a far worse record than any other main route.

There were so many crashes on the 117-mile expressway in November that drivers were trapped in 85 hours of congestion while emergencycrews freed injured motorists, removed stricken vehicles and repaired the road.

The new congestion index by travel data firm Trafficmaster reveals that during November police had to close the M25 18 times, forcing millions of commuters to find alternative routes.

The authors say that with traffic levels at an all-time high and with more cars flooding on to roads, motorists should assume there is worse to come.

According to Trafficmaster Britain's key motorways are at or near full capacity for so much of the day that there is now "always the potential" for accidents.

"Should an accident occur at these times," says the report, "the tailbacks build very quickly.

"There is nowhere for the traffic to go."