A five-car pile-up on the M40 caused traffic mayhem for south Bucks rush-hour drivers yesterday.

Emergency services raced to the scene, between junction 5 (Stokenchurch) and junction 4 (Handy Cross), after receiving 999 calls at 6.09pm.

Twelve people are understood to have been inside the vehicles, with nine men and three women out of the wreckage before Bucks Fire and Rescue crews arrived.

The authorities have not yet confirmed if anyone was seriously injured.

Three fire engines, two Urban Search and Rescue units and a fire officer were deployed to the scene alongside paramedics and police.