A MOTORIST died after a horror smash on the A127 - closing the road for ten hours yesterday.

Emergency services rushed to the A127 near Rayleigh Weir at 3am.

Police confirmed that a man died at the scene.

As a result, the road was closed, causing huge build-ups of traffic for morning commuters.

Both carriageways were initially closed, although the London-bound carriageway reopened by 7.30am.

With emergency services clearing the scene, and police investigating, the Southend-bound lane wasn’t reopened until 1pm. However, the Rayleigh Weir underpass remained closed all day.

James Moore, 31, said: “I drove past the scene at maybe 7.30, when there was just one lane open, I had been in traffic for 90 minutes already, or so.

“It didn’t look good.

“There was a lot of rubble and the car was in a bad way, well you couldn’t tell it was a car really.

“You knew it would probably be bad news. The traffic stops mattering when you know how serious it was, once it was confirmed it was a fatal crash, being late to work does not matter anymore.”

Police are yet to formally identify the victim, or give his age.

Despite lanes reopening, there were still long delays on the A127 back to the A132, at Nevendon, and the A1245 southbound back to the A129 late into yesterday evening.

Rayleigh town centre was heavily congested throughout the day.

No arrests have been made and it is unclear at this stage what caused the single-vehicle crash.

Police are continuing to appeal for information, and anyone who witnessed the crash or has dash-cam footage should call police on 101. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers on 0800555111.