A serious crash involving a single vehicle on the M40 caused gridlock and severe delays for much of today.

At the peak of the disruption, there were delays of up to 70 minutes between junctions nine and 10 of the motorway near Bicester.

It followed a collision at around 10 am this morning.

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Emergency services, including fire service crews from stations in Bicester, Kidlington, and Oxford, responded to the crash.

It left the motorway closed in both directions. Motorists were urged to avoid the road and use diversions instead.

South Central Ambulance Service, Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, Thames Valley Police and a helicopter from Northamptonshire and Warwickshire Air Ambulance service also responded.

The southern carriageway was blocked while air ambulance landed but re-opened at around 12:24am.

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The northern carriageway was closed for more than seven hours while investigations took place.

By 3pm, delays were as long as 70 minutes.

National Highways started its preparations to re-open the motorway at around 3.30pm with a vehicle laying clones to allow a single lane of traffic.

By 4:20pm, the lane was opened and congestion was eased to around a 45 minute delay. There were also still long delays on the southbound carriageway.

All lanes were reopened by 4.36pm and delays began to ease.

National Highways thanks motorists who were caught up in the collision for their patience.