FOUR separate incidents within the space of an hour meant severe traffic congestion on the A27 in this morning's rush-hour.

The stretch affected was between the Ashcombe roundabout near Lewes and the Hollingbury turn-off at Brighton.

Just before 7am, a Volkswagen Sharan taxi heading for Gatwick Airport broke down on the westbound carriageway some 200 yards before the Hollingbury slip road.

Minutes later a Peugeot 207 car went into the back of a Ford Transit van, both also travelling west, approaching the same junction. No one was hurt.

Then, at 7.14am, a Skoda Fabia travelling eastbound towards Lewes hit the central reservation crash barrier near Kingston.

The woman driving had complained of chest pains but, after being checked over by paramedics, she was able to return to her home in Brighton.

Then, at 7.55am, four cars, all travelling west, were involved in a shunt 100 yards before the B2123 Drove junction at Falmer. One driver was suffering from shock and another, a man, was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton for treatment to a back injury.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "The combined incidents led to traffic queues building up in both directions until the various scenes could be cleared."