THE M27 has reopened after it was closed this morning following a pile up involving several vehicles.

Two lanes of the busy motorway were initially closed on the westbound carriageway around junction nine to Whiteley following the crash at 7.46am.

The entire motorway was then closed after 9am to allow the air ambulance to land and take a seriously injured woman to hospital.

At least four vehicles were involved in the crash that happened in the middle and outside lanes of the motorway.

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Firefighters had to cut the roof off a Vauxhall Corsa to free the back seat passenger who was thought to have suffered a broken leg.

Both the westbound and eastbound carriageway of the motorway was closed to allow the air ambulance to land and take the woman to hospital.

A Ford Transit van, Honda CRV and Citreon Berlingo van were also involved in the accident, none of the occupants of those vehicles were seriously injured.

The wreckage of the cars was cleared by 9am according to the Highways Agency.

The motorway was fully reopened by 10am, by which time significant tailbacks had built up.