An emergency closure of the M4 is causing huge delays, after a dramatic police chase smashed the motorway barrier.
The closure comes after a major incident between junctions 10 and 11, which took place on Tuesday, February 17.
The Metropolitan Police says its officers chased a vehicle along the M4 out of London just after 3am on Tuesday morning, when it failed to stop.
The vehicle later crashed on the M4 westbound, causing fuel to spill out over the motorway and damage the M4 barrier just outside of Reading.
A full closure was put in place to allow for emergency repairs, and the M4 near Reading is expected to remain closed throughout Wednesday, February 18.
For Swindon commuters travelling west from Reading, this is causing huge delays as drivers are forced to divert through Reading, which is heavily congested as a result of the M4 closure.
One motorist, travelling from Woking to Swindon, told the Swindon Advertiser: "It took me an hour and a half to get to work this morning, it usually only takes about 50 minutes.
"The roads were chaos and the town was queuing as everyone tried to avoid the motorway.
"I had the same issue yesterday and had to tell my employer I'd have to work from home because I couldn't get past the traffic to make it in time."
National Highways has warned drivers that a "full closure" of the motorway will remain in place to allow highway teams to work on resurfacing two of the lanes.
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A spokesperson said: "The M4 in Berkshire is closed in both directions between J10 (A329M/ Wokingham) and J11 (Reading) for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) emergency works following the discovery of structural damage to a power line pylon near the motorway.
"SSEN will be attending to carry out the necessary repairs.
"Due to the extent of the damage the M4 is expected to remain closed in both directions throughout the rush hour period, into the morning of Wednesday 18th February."
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