Police update on M27 crash where "joke" resurfacing work taking place

Hampshire County Council Traffic and Travel said the incident happened on the eastbound lane of the M27 between junction 5 and 7, leaving two lanes blocked.

A social media post said earlier: “Eastbound - 2 lanes are BLOCKED between J5/A335 #Eastleigh and J7/A334 #HedgeEnd due to an RTC, heavy delays building.”

AA Traffic News added: “Severe delays of eleven minutes and delays increasing on M27 Eastbound between J4 M3 and J7 A334 Charles Watts Way (Hedge End). Average speed ten mph."

Now police have provided more detail on the incident. A police spokesperson said: “We were called just before 8am to a collision on the M27 eastbound between junctions 5 and 7. This involved two cars and no injuries were reported.”

The section of the motorway, which currently has lane reductions for resurfacing work, has come under fire from drivers for being dangerous. Jason Lamley, writing on The News’ Hampshire Traffic and Travel Facebook page was the latest to raise concerns in a popular post seen by 13,000 people after he branded the situation a “joke”.

He said: “The project management team responsible for the latest M27 roadworks are a disgrace to their profession. How on earth should they be allowed to cone off 10 miles of motorway, both directions for five weeks and carry out no work?

“The reduced lane widths are narrower than a supermarket car parking space, but you are able to drive at 50mph along these lanes, unless there is a breakdown or a crash, which is very often. They have placed a few sporadic signs stating that vehicles wider than just two metres should only use the inside lane. This signage is mainly being ignored by a lot of drivers in vans, flatbeds even artic lorries.

“No wonder there are accidents day and night along this stretch of road. God knows what it’s going to be like next week when all the schools return from the Easter break and the traffic increases.”