A MOTORIST was trapped in the Rotherhithe Tunnel in East London in a two-vehicle pile-up. Fire crews had to cut the 61-year-old man free from his vehicle after the crash involving a car and a van both heading southward towards Rotherhithe

A MOTORIST was trapped in the Rotherhithe Tunnel in East London in a two-vehicle pile-up.

Fire crews had to cut the 61-year-old man free from his vehicle after the crash involving a car and a van both heading southward towards Rotherhithe during yesterday’s morning rush-hour.

The tunnel had to be closed for nearly an hour during the rescue a few yards into the northern tunnel entrance, causing traffic hold-ups along the A13 Commercial Road between Whitechapel and Limehouse.

The injured man was brought out on a stretcher with suspected spine injury and treated at the scene before being taken to hospital, but was not thought to be seriously injured.