Three vehicle pile-up on A3 causes rush hour jams

Firefighters from Walton, Painshill and Esher attended the pile-up where one grab lorry had turned on its roof on the carriageway. Immediately after this a Ford Focus collided with a white Toyota 4X4.

The driver of the grab lorry was treated at the scene by paramedics for minor cuts and bruises and another driver was taken to Kingston Hospital with imjuries not thought to be life-threatening.

The carriageway was closed until 5.20pm.

First reports indicated people were trapped in the vehicles but it was later confirmed that all occupants of the vehicles had been removed safely to the care of ambulance crews for treatment.

A tipper lorry equipped with a grabber arm assisted emergency services in trying to remove the overturned vehicle, but eventually a specialist winch was used.

There were massive tailbacks in both directions throughout the rush hour period.

Firefighter at Walton, Stef Morley said: "All three emergency services worked well together toward the safe and successful conclusion of this incident.
"An investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing."