Drivers travel in wrong direction along motorway to escape traffic

'This action is ILLEGAL! You are putting yourselves, our road workers and other road users at great risk!'

An articulated lorry appeared to drive through traffic cones and back towards Avonmouth to escape the traffic (twitter/@HighwaysSWEST)

A traffic jam that saw people stuck at a standstill for as long as five hours led a number of drivers –including one behind the wheel of an articulated lorry – to drive the wrong way down the motorway to escape.

Highways England were forced to warn drivers against driving through traffic cones and back onto the carriageway – where they drove towards the nearby town of Avonmouth, north west of Bristol.

“There is a lot of congestion on the #M5 today due to multiple serious incidents” – the agency said on Twitter, alongside an image of an articulated lorry that appeared to be attempting to turn back down the down the road and towards an earlier junction.

“This does not however provide anyone with the ability or excuse to go through roadwork closures, or go down the road the wrong way”.

The jam began after a woman was hospitalised with serious head injuries after crashing into the back of a lorry between Burnham-on-Sea and Bridgwater, in Somerset, at around 6am.

The lorry is understood to have dragged the vehicle for a kilometre down the road before the driver realised what had happened and came to a stop.

Meanwhile a second crash which left a car on its roof led to further disruptions in the South West.

Commuters complained of having been left at a standstill for as long as five hours.

A separate statement from Highways England - alongside an image of at least 15 vehicles travelling the same route the lorry appeared to have used – said “This action is ILLEGAL!”

“You are putting yourselves, our road workers and other road users at great risk!

“The traffic has now been released, we ask for your patience during these stoppages”.