Severe disruption was reported on the M40 in Oxfordshire on Wednesday following two separate multi-vehicle collisions that caused significant delays exceeding one hour for motorists.

The incidents occurred northbound between junction 6 at Watlington and junction 7 at Thame, with the two crashes positioned very close to one another.

The collisions resulted in extensive tailbacks affecting the major motorway route.

Congestion was reported at 7 miles with journey times extended by approximately 60 minutes.

Northbound traffic between junctions 4 and 8A experienced delays of around 25 minutes, while southbound traffic between junctions 8A and 6 faced hold-ups of approximately 11 minutes.

Emergency services responded to the scene, with Thames Valley Police attending a minor injury collision involving eight vehicles on the M40 during the incident.

Road closures were implemented on lanes 2 and 3 while emergency response and recovery operations took place.

These lanes were subsequently reopened, allowing the backlog of traffic to begin dispersing.

By late afternoon, the situation had improved considerably with all lanes restored to traffic.

However, residual delays of up to 60 minutes remained on the approach to the affected area, with approximately 6 miles of congestion still being experienced by drivers.