A lorry has crashed into a bridge in Kew, spilling its contents - which appear to be concrete slabs - onto the road.

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

The crash happened at the railway bridge at around 1.15pm on Mortlake Road and the road has been fully closed - with reports traffic could back all the way onto the M4.

Motorists have been advised to avoid using the road until the debris has been moved and the disruption to traffic in both directions is described as 'severe'.

Traffic is queued south over Kew Bridge and all approaches to Chalkers Corner.

The lorry, which was travelling south, was carrying concrete slabs 'six inches thick' and roughly the size of billboards, according to eyewitness reports.

Each slab weighs 13 tonnes.

Traffic chaos as Lorry crashes into bridge in Kew

Kew resident Brendan Caulfield said one of the concrete slabs was jammed under the bridge, and the other had toppled onto the pavement.

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

Mr Caulfield said: "One of the slabs must have just caught the bottom of the bridge.

"It looks like it'll take a while to remove because the vehicle is wedged there and they need to get the other slab off the road.

"It is going to be awkward to clear.

"The bridge is in the way of lifting equipment. The slab will have to be raised to allow the lorry to move.

"A recovery truck has arrived but from the south but has now gone away as blockage can only be accessed from the north side of Mortlake Road."

The driver of the lorry reportedly believed the slabs to sit at 14ft 6in, three inches lower than the official 14ft 9in clearance of the bridge.

Mr Caulfield said: "I have no idea what speed the lorry was going at - perhaps there was too much air in his tyres at the time.

"If you spot a slab of concrete with a big dent in it on eBay you'll know where it came from."

A car reportedly had to back out from under the bridge to avoid being 'crushed' by one of the slabs.

No one was hurt in the crash and trais are still running over the bridge, which is not believed to have sustained any damage.

Metropolitan Police were still on the scene as of 3pm, a police spokesman said.

A lorry previously crashed into the same bridge in September 2011.

More to follow.

Did you see what happened? Send photos and information to ben.weich@london.newsquest.co.uk