An accident on the M5 in Somerset caused the worst disruption and biggest tailbacks UK motorists had to endure in the last year.

A study by traffic analysts Inrix looked at disruption on motorways and A roads between September 2016 and August 2017.

It found there were nearly 4,000 traffic jams a day.

It said the worst followed a crash between two lorries on August 4, 2017 which resulted in a diesel spill on the M5 northbound between Junction 22 (Burnham-on-Sea) and Junction 21 (Weston-super-Mare).

The incident caused tailbacks of 36 miles for drivers on the busy motorway and 15 hours of traffic delays from the fuel spill.

The M5 delay was deemed the worst in a year, beating three incidents on the M6 and the A406W.

Inrix believe the traffic disruption caused an estimated £2.4 million cost to the economy based on average fuel consumption, the number of people typically in cars and "assumptions" about the purpose of people's trips.

It was far from an isolated incident: there have been series of major delays on the M5 this summer as a result of a string of crashes.

Video Loading

Graham Cookson, chief economist at Inrix, said: "While queuing is considered a national pastime for many Brits, nothing is more frustrating than sitting in traffic and it's a costly activity.


Highways England, which is responsible for motorways and major trunk roads, said 85 per cent of incidents were cleared within an hour.

"We will continue to ensure roads are reopened safely, but as quickly as possible," customer service director Mel Clarke said.