Traffic chaos as motorists return

Thousands of motorists faced delays on their return to London after the Easter break.

Major routes in the South-East were heavily congested and around 17 million vehicles were said to have been on the road over the weekend.

Severe traffic caused problems on the M4 into London from Heathrow airport and M1 southbound between junctions 10 and seven. The M25 anti-clockwise between junctions 17 and 18 at Rickmansworth was also heavily congested yesterday.

But a spokeswoman for the RAC said the roads were not as busy as on Thursday and Good Friday because of the four-day weekend.

"People can stagger their journeys

because they haven't had to crush everything into three days. They tend to be more relaxed about getting home again," she said.

"Many will also have taken a week off to go away with their children for the holiday so may not have attempted to come back yesterday."

But motorists faced major delays in west London today after a barge struck Hammersmith Bridge after the University Boat Race on Sunday. The bridge was closed to vehicles during this morning's rush hour and diversions are in place.