An accident on the A127 caused traffic chaos with jams stretching back for miles.

The smash, involving three vehicles and a motorcycle, happened on Sunday afternoon at the Rayleigh Weir underpass on the Southend-bound carriageway.

A police spokesman said: "The motorcyclist had to be taken to Southend Hospital but we don't believe his injuries were particularly serious.

"It just looks like a normal accident, but there seems to have been more traffic than usual on the road - possibly because it was Mother's Day - and it caused worse tailbacks than we would have expected."

l In a separate incident, a motorcyclist who allegedly refused to stop for officers wanting to breathalyse him had to be taken to hospital after being involved in an accident a few minutes later.

Officers said they spotted the man in Westcliff and asked him to pull over - but claimed he failed to do so and carried on driving.

Police followed him for a few minutes before reaching the junction of Western Esplanade and Shorefield Road where the bike hit with the kerb.

The motorcyclist, a 40-year-old from Thundersley, had to be taken to Southend Hospital, although a police spokesman said that he "doesn't appear to have serious injuries to speak of".

Officers want to hear from anybody who saw the accident, which happened just after 2am Sunday.

Any witnesses should contact Rayleigh traffic police on 01268 775533.

A sample of the man's blood has been sent for testing to see if he was driving over the legal limit.

Crash - the motor bike lies on it's side after the crash at the entrance to the Rayleigh Weir underpass

Picture: MAXINE CLARKE

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