THREE young people died in an accident that closed the M25 in north-east London for nine hours on Monday morning.

A Vauxhall Zafira left the motorway and went down an embankment.

The accident, which happened around 3am, closed the M25 clockwise between junctions 28 and 29.

Delays of an hour and a half persisted in a clockwise direction on the motorway while police were investigating the scene.

It is believed the six people were young music fans returning from the V Festival in Essex.

Two men in their 20s and a girl in her late teens died at the accident spot, police said.

The driver, a woman in her late 20s, is seriously hurt with leg injuries at Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford.

Another teenage girl broke her arm. Both she and a man in his 20s, also injured, are stable.

Officers have informed their loved ones.

The Highways Agency said the M25 reopened just before midday.

In the opposite traffic lane, shorter delays of about 15 minutes occurred due to drivers slowing down to look at the scene.