A ROAD was closed for several hours after a vehicle collided with the safety barrier on the A31 westbound near Ringwood on Wednesday.

The Poulner junction, which connects to Southampton Road, was closed until around 8pm.

The prolonged closure was to allow four recovery trucks to use cranes to remove the van that had become embedded in the barrier on the inside of the trunk road carriageway.

Highways England reported seven mile queues and delays of up to 90 minutes at rush hour due to the single vehicle collision involving a red Ford Transit van.

A spokesperson for Highways England said traffic was slow moving as motorists exited the M27 onto the A31.

Police officers attended the scene close to the A338 slip road at 1.25pm, before passing the incident on to Highways.

The road was fully reopened around 8pm.