A COLLISION between three HGVs caused traffic mayhem as Colchester came to a standstill filled with gridlocked commuters.

One man had to be cut free from his vehicle on the A12 at the Spring Lane interchange yesterday as a result of the crash and an air ambulance landed on the major route.

Amid the large emergency services response flocking to the scene at 7.30am included three fire crews, two ambulances and police officers deployed to manage the traffic flow.

The A12 Ipswich-bound and London-bound were both closed to allow for the air ambulance to land, with tailbacks being seen as far back as East Bergholt, while the A120 suffered major delays.

Gazette: Landing - the air ambulance arrived at the scene Picture: @WarMonkeyDigit2Landing - the air ambulance arrived at the scene Picture: @WarMonkeyDigit2

The impact was felt across Colchester as busy Ipswich Road, Cymbeline Way and Lexden Road all became gridlocked by motorists trying to unwittingly join or avoid the blocked road.

Pupils at The Stanway School were in danger of missing vital GCSE exams after a burst water main added to the traffic woes.

The school tweeted: "Due to traffic congestion on the A12 and burst water main in Colchester, we recognise some Year 11 students may struggle to arrive at school on time for their exam.

"We will delay the start and put arrangements in place to ensure no student is penalized by the circumstances."

Following the incident, the East of England Ambulance Service stated crews treated a man at the scene before transporting him by road to Colchester Hospital for further assessment.

A fire brigade spokesman added: “Two crews from Colchester and one from Wivenhoe attended and found three HGVs involved. A man was trapped in one of the vehicles.

“Crews used specialist equipment to free him and left him in the care of the ambulance service at 8.12am.”

Gazette: A tale of two lanes - traffic came to a standstill on the A12A tale of two lanes - traffic came to a standstill on the A12

Representatives from the emergency services remained at the scene until shortly after 10am when it was safe to reopen the road.

Essex Police has now launched an investigation into what it described as a “serious collision”.

A spokesman said: “We would like to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time and saw the collision or anyone who has dash cam footage.”

Anyone with information should contact the police on 101 and quote incident 200.