HA carries out mock crash in M25 tunnel

A mock car pile-up and truck fire was staged in the Holmesdale Tunnel on the M25 during the night of 13/14 October to test its fire and safety systems. The exercise closed the M25 in both directions between Junctions 25 and 27 from 11pm to 5am.

Eamon Colgan, the Highways Agency's project manager, explains: "We have recently completed a major refurbishment project in the Holmesdale Tunnel, which is part of one of the busiest routes on the European road network. It was very important that we tested the new safety systems that have been installed in a realistic environment. We are now confident that they would respond effectively in the event of a real emergency in the tunnel."

The 120 people that took part included officers from the Highways Agency, London Fire Service, Hertfordshire Fire Service, Metropolitan Police and the East of England Ambulance Service.