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Lane closures have been put in place after a lorry overturned on the westbound carriageway of the M4 on Wednesday afternoon (October 12).

The collision is likely to affect west London commuters as diversions have been put in place.

Emergency services were called to the scene of the crash between Maidenhead and Wokingham at around 12.51pm.

The driver of the HGV was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, according to Thames Valley Police.

A statement from the force said: "The westbound carriageway of the M4 at J 8/9-10 will be closed for at least ten hours.

"This is following a collision on the westbound carriageway at about 12.45pm today.

"A truck overturned and the driver has been taken to hospital with serious injures."

See below for live updates from the scene of the crash and all your travel advice.

TIme to close the blog

Since Highways England have announced the M4 will now be closed until at least 6am it seems a good time to close up the live blog for the night.

For the full story on today’s road closure and details of the overnight work you can see the full story here

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M4 closed 'throughout tonight'

Highways England says the M4 will be closed until 6am tomorrow morning

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Closure causes traffic nightmare in Maidenhead

Reports the M4 closure is affecting Maidenhead traffic in a big way. Traffic is being diverted from the motorway because of the earlier crash

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Reopening delayed again, say Highways England

Highways England have said the roads will not return to normal until around 10.15pm this evening.

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Full story

For the full story on the HGV crash and more details about the condition of the driver see the full story here.


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More lane closures may be needed

Highways England have said lane closures on the easbound carriageway may be needed to repair the damaged central reservation.

A statement said: “Once Thames Valley Police has completed an investigation, extensive repairs will need to be carried out to the road before it can be safely reopened.

“Initial inspections have identified that 300 metres of the central reservation and a light column has been damaged with possible damage to the road surface.

“The westbound carriageway remains closed following an incident involving an overturned lorry, which happened just before 1pm. One lane remains closed on the eastbound carriageway but additional lane closures may be required later to repair the barrier.”

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Traffic update

(Image: Google Maps)

Here is the latest traffic from Google Maps as of 5.30pm.

Traffic still bad through Maidenhead and Slough with some parts of Windsor also looking congested.

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Latest from Highways England

Here is the latest from Highways England on the lane closures post just before 5pm. Normal traffic conditions now not expected until 10pm.

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Shot of the overturned lorry

The overturned lorry on the M4
The overturned lorry on the M4 (Image: @ewinterlockwood)

This photo was taken by Esme Winter Lockwood who was caught in the traffic

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Images from the M4

From the scene of the crash
From the scene of the crash (Image: @Ewinterlockwood)

More images are coming in from the scene of the M4 road closure that show police on the scene and cars moving past in the hard shoulder.

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'Police investigation'

According to the Complete Traffic Twitter account the westbound carriageway remains closed while police investigate the crash. Hearing reports the road is likely to reopen between 8pm and 8.15pm.

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M4 closed for 'several hours'

Highways England have told travellers to be aware as the M4 will remained closed for ‘several hours’ between J8 and J10.

The tweet was sent at around 4.20pm and included photographs from the crash scene

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Second crash in two days

The overturned lorry is the second crash in two days on the M4.

A pedestrian died in the early hours of Tuesday morning (October 11) after being involved in a collision with a lorry.

Police have been investigating the fatal collision.

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Traffic overview

Here is an overview of the traffic between the accident and west London as of 4.20pm.

Traffic building through Maidenhead Slough, probably due to diversions in place.

M4 traffic
M4 traffic (Image: Google Maps)
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'Long delays'

5 Live Travel reporting at around 4.15pm that the westbound carriageway remains closed and the long delays continue.

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Shocking photo from the crash

This shocking image was shared on Twitter of the overturned lorry.

Raquel Douglas posted it at around 3pm.

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Stuck in the queues?

People stuck in the queues have taken to Twitter. If you’re stuck send your photos and videos to alexander.ballinger@gmail.com

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Images from the scene + westbound still closed

This tweet at around 3.40pm shows the extent of the queues from the M4. Westbound remains closed between J8 and J10 and the easbound carriageway is also affected.

Westbound not expected to reopen before 8pm.

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Diversion info from HIghway England

Highways England issued diversion info for drivers at around 2.15pm today.

A statement said: “A diversion route is in place and westbound traffic is to leave the M4 motorway at J8/J9 and follow the Hollow Square diversion symbol. This route takes the A404(M) northbound to the Thicket Roundabout. Proceeding left onto the A4 (Bath Road) westbound towards Reading where the road meets the A3290 junction. Heading south on the A3290 before finally joining A329(M) continuing southbound which takes traffic to the M4 J10, where customers are then able to re-join the westbound carriageway.”


People are also being advised to expect delays and to allow extra time for their journey.

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