SUSSEX’S busiest road was closed for nine hours yesterday (Jan 6), causing delays for thousands of drivers.

The A27 was still closed after a skip lorry toppled over near Arundel, blocking the road in both directions.

Highway workers had to carry out emergency repairs after the Tarmac was severely damaged by the accident.

But first the mud and wood debris being carried by the skip had to be taken away, the lorry recovered and the road cleared.

Work went on into the evening as the Highways Agency repaired the road, which reopened at about 8pm.

An eight-mile diversion away from Sussex’s busiest road, used by up to 250,000 vehicles a day, caused traffic chaos in the area.

There were stretches of traffic from the accident spot back as far as Poling, as well as stretching south to Lyminster and Ford.

Drivers queued for up to 30 minutes westbound towards the closed stretch of road and police reported tailbacks of up to two miles.

The route between Causeway Roundabout and the Crossbush junction, outside Arundel Railway Station, was closed as the overturned skip blocked the route in both directions.

The skip lorry crashed into cars travelling eastbound at about 11.15am yesterday, but remarkably no one was seriously injured.

The male driver of the lorry escaped with only minor injuries.

An elderly couple whose car was involved in the accident sought refuge inside a passing Good Samaritan’s car.

But when emergency services arrived a short while later, they had to be cut free from the unaffected vehicle because of paramedics’ concerns about the pair’s severe back pain.

A spokesman from Southern Rail said that although the road was closed outside the station, customers could still access it from the west.

Two fire crews from Littlehampton and a heavy rescue tender from Worthing were at the scene until 1.15pm.

They said the skip appeared to have overturned at the top of the hill near the Crossbush Inn and slid down the road, hitting several other vehicles on the way.

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