Yesterday evening emergency services were called to the scene of a serious road traffic collision on the M25 shortly after 6pm, which caused motorists delays of several hours.

       Three people died and two drivers were arrested after the serious collision involving a lorry, a minibus and a car on the M25 in Essex.

       A fourth person is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after the crash, which occurred near Waltham Abbey around 6.15pm on Monday and caused lengthy traffic delays.

       Jonny Ashton, who was caught up for a total of six and a half hours as emergency crews tended to the Waltham Abbey crash, shared a tweet referring to an act of kindness carried out by others who were caught up in the lengthy traffic delays.

       At 11:05pm on Monday he tweeted: “Been stuck on the M25 for 4.5 hours as emergency services respond to what sounds like an awful incident at Waltham Abbey.

       “A man just knocked on my window and gave me some biscuits and water - he's going around every car offering them to people.”

       The kind gesture was a joint-effort carried out by two separate members of the public, something which Mr Ashton learned in a brief chat with the gift-giver.

       He told Express.co.uk: “I had a quick chat to him - he said do you want some biscuits and water?

       "I thanked him and asked if he had a van load of both, and he said he had the water and someone else had a load of biscuits - and that was it, he was off to go and give more to other people.”

       READ MORE M25 traffic latest: Motorway closed after serious collision

       The collision occurred between junctions 27 and 26 of the anti-clockwise carriageway, near Waltham Abbey and two drivers have been arrested on suspicion of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving.

       Speaking about the incident, Mr Ashton added: “It was clear it was something serious ahead of us as we'd seen a few air ambulances, and more and more ambulances and police cars kept driving through - so it certainly puts things into perspective.”

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       The documentary maker, whose previous work includes Channel 4’s 24 Hours in Police Custody, was caught in the tailback following the accident, which caused the death of three people while a fourth remains in hospital with life-threatening injuries after the crash.

       The scene was attended by nine ambulances, two air ambulances, several police vehicles plus fire engines from Brentwood, Loughton, Waltham Abbey and Epping.

       Mr Ashton said: “？？I was stuck for around 6.5 hours in the end. Had to abandon my intended journey and start again this morning”.

       As a result of the delay, Mr Ashton had to abandon his journey and is instead making the journey to Stoke today instead.

       In reference to the collision, Incident Commander Richie Green said:

       "Our crews worked extremely hard in a difficult and dynamic situation. We thank the public for their patience while we worked with other emergency services to make the scene safe."