WEST London was thrown into traffic chaos this week, after two accidents in Chiswick snarled up the area, causing gridlock from Hammersmith Flyover to Kew Bridge.

On Tuesday, March 30, in the middle of the rush hour at 8.20am, an accident involving a van occurred at the permanently busy Hogarth Roundabout.

Although no one was injured in this crash, the panelled van was so badly damaged that it could not be driven off the roundabout and a recovery team did not arrive until nearly two hours later at around 10am.

The next smash involved two vehicles in a pile up on the A316 at the bottom of Chiswick Bridge by Hartington Road, at 1.15pm in which five people were injured. One 32-year-old woman was taken to West Middlesex Hospital, but was later released, while her baby and a mother and her two children, from the other vehicle, were checked by ambulance crews at the scene and subsequently escorted home.

The northbound section of Chiswick Bridge was closed for some time, adding to the traffic chaos and affecting traffic on neighbouring Kew and Hammersmith bridges.

The second pile up may possibly have been as a result of the backlog of traffic from the first incident, although the cause is yet to be confirmed by police who are still investigating.

Chiswick's Sector Inspector, Ged Bowyer said: "We cannot comment on the cause of these incidents at this stage as they are both still under investigation."

A spokesperson for TfL, which controls the roads added: "We are constantly monitoring the situation to put in implementation plans when incidents happen and have people watching London's roads 24 hours a day, especially at pinch points.

"London is a very busy city, but we do our best to keep traffic moving, especially when there is a serious incident.

"In these situations, we may send congestion busting teams to the site, set up diversion routes or even change traffic light settings in extreme cases."