Some motorists were held up for six hours or more after two lorries collided near the Dartford Crossing on the M25 in Essex. The accident happened at around 2:30 PM on Tuesday and the motorway was only fully opened again in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

IKEA took pity on the motorists’ plight and offered beds to around 200 people to give them a chance to rest. Meanwhile, Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes was among the motorists. In her case, she went to Twitter to announce that she was “caught short” during the traffic jam and had to relieve herself in the way nature intended.

Crash on the M25 holds up traffic

As reported by ITV News, the two HGV lorries had collided at around 2:30 PM on Tuesday, causing long tailbacks on the motorway. One lorry overturned and ended up sliding down an embankment. Both lorry drivers required treatment for minor injuries, but no one else was injured in the crash.

Dramatic images taken at the scene showed the lorries on their sides, with one hanging over the embankment before it slid down. There was debris all over the motorway and motorists were climbing out of their cars to stretch their legs.

The affected motorists were stuck near junctions 30 and 31 on the M25, while delays piled up motorists from the QEII bridge to Junction 28 for Chelmsford.

Highways England advised on Wednesday morning that they were still busy, making a lane available past the accident scene to traffic still stuck in the jam.

Many of the motorists took to Twitter to say that IKEA had kindly offered them beds while the traffic was halted.

Around 200 motorists were reportedly given beds to relax while they were stuck in the traffic jam.

Esther Rolinson tweeted that she and her daughter were "trapped in IKEA" by the crash, but colouring in saved their sanity. She added, however, that she can never face a meatball again.

Natasha Steer joked that they were glad to finally have their room at IKEA, with a photo of her better half getting comfortable on the bed.

Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes caught short by jam

Delays were obviously a problem for anyone needing a toilet and Kelly was no different. She was stranded for almost six hours by the lorry crash, just when really needed to be somewhere. Kelly also headed to Twitter to say she was stuck with “nowhere to go” while desperately needing to wee.

As reported by the Mirror, she confessed later on that she eventually had to get out of her car to head to the crowded roadside for some much-needed relief.

She apologised to her 130,000 Twitter followers by saying, “Sorry but I had to go!” She tweeted that there is one thing every runner does well and that’s squatting. She even got the help of a traffic control man, who gave her some toilet paper and hand wipes.

It all goes to show, any bad situation – even a traffic jam – can be handled with humour.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED