A SERIES of crashes and road problems turned Thursday, February 2, into a nightmare for motorists on the A3 and on roads through and around Petersfield.

It started with a crash just before 8am on the A3 northbound carriageway near the Buriton slip road, which caused long delays for rush hour motorists.

A spokesman for Romanse Traffic Managers said that it had left one lane blocked, and caused tailbacks of up to an hour stretching back as far as Horndean.

Traffic diverting through Petersfield met the school run heading to Churchers College and The Petersfield School, slowing progress to almost walking pace at times, one Petersfield mum said.

By the afternoon traffic was flowing along the A3, and Petersfield had returned to normality.

But then just before 5pm a motorist reported that a van had crashed into the central reservation crash barriers, once again near the Buriton slip road on the northbound carriageway of the A3.

The van was entangled with a car, said the motorist.

A Hampshire Police spokesman said two vehicles were involved in the incident; minor injuries to those involved were reported.

The spokesmen added that the crash also caused some delays on the southbound carriageway.

And yet again The Causeway through Petersfield slowed almost to a halt as hundreds of cars took the through town route in an effort to avoid the jams on the A3.

As the traffic jam began stretching along the A3 in both directions, motorists in the know tried to circumnavigate the crash scene by going through Petersfield, into Buriton, up Kiln Lane and on to Chawton, where they hoped to rejoin the A3.

The motorists said: “Once Kiln Lane leaves the village, it becomes narrow and the traffic along it was solid, but moving, until it stopped, I think there had been a minor shunt, which blocked the road.

“Cars were trying to turn round, carry on, reverse, it was unbelievable.”

Meanwhile the efforts of motorists trying to avoid the crash by leaving the A3 at Clanfield and heading out to East Meon, and rejoining the A3 came to a halt.

The roads finally returned to normal after 8pm.

A minor shunt had blocked the through lane, said another motorist.