A giant pothole appeared in the darkness on the M25 on Wednesday morning - damaging at least 20 cars.
The hole left a queue of vehicles on the hard shoulder of the motorway in Surrey as stricken drivers tried to change their broken tyres.
Among those affected by the incident between Staines and Chertsey shortly before 6am were families who had been picked up from nearby Heathrow airport.
One motorist, James Rivers, told the Standard: “In lane 2 between the A30 and M3 junction a massive pothole appeared, catching out a number of drivers, wrecking their cars.
“Lots of cars [were] on the hard shoulder past the hole, hazards on, all changing their driver side front wheels as wrecked by the pothole.
“To the highways agency's credit, a works unit arrived pretty quickly and started to patch the road.”
Lorry driver Blaine Conway, 39, said he was forced to walk for eight miles in total to get a tyre after the pothole destroyed a tire on his Vauxhall Combi van with “a massive bang”.
He said: “I was leaving work and coming into lane two when I suddenly heard a massive thud. I pulled over and there was a couple of other cars with their hazard lights on, and eventually there was 27 cars all pulled up.”
He walked four miles to-and-from a shop to get a replacement tyre after being quoted more than £200 for a replacement.
Some of those affected suffered cracked alloys alongside ruptured tyres, with other drivers offering to help with any spare equipment they had.
“There was a bit of shock, it’s the last thing you expect when you’re coming to work in the morning,” he added.
“But lots of people mucked in to help everyone else. It was quite nice to see everyone helping when it’s 5.30 in the morning and it’s pouring with rain and panic could’ve set in a bit.”
A National Highways spokesperson said the fault was reported just before 6am, and repairs began within an hour. They said the carriageway reopened fully within three hours.
Motorists had earlier been warned of National Highways 40 minute delays during rush hour and five miles of queues as engineers fixed the defect.
“We are sorry to hear of this incident and the inconvenience and concern it will have caused,” said the National Highways spokesperson.
"When potholes do occur we repair them as soon as possible, and we are presently in the process of a repair to be carried out as soon as possible.
"Our comprehensive maintenance and renewals programme, which we operate across all of our major roads and motorways, helps to minimise the risks of potholes occurring but it can't eradicate them.
"Safety is National Highways top priority, and on dual carriageways like the M25 we carry out a rolling programme of safety inspections to maintain our roads in a safe condition while causing minimal disruption for road users.”
