A MOTORIST was rushed to hospital after the lorry they were driving overturned, causing hours of delays on the M4 on Wednesday.

Police, ambulance and fire crews attended the incident around junction 8/9 for Maidenhead at 12.45pm to deal with the incident which left the M4 westbound blocked until just before 6am on Thursday.

Diesel spilled from the heavy goods vehicle over the road, and the driver was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

Highways England confirmed that resurfacing of the road has to be carried out because of the spillage, and repair works to the central reservation barriers also took place.

A lane of the eastbound carriageway was also closed following the incident, but reopened before 5pm on Wednesday.

Diversion routes were set up along the A404, M40 and A34 to help the flow of traffic, but heavy delays caused widespread disruption during rush hour traffic, with tailbacks of more than one hour for motorists travelling towards London.