VITAL camera footage could help police solve the cause of a serious fatal crash on a Hampshire motorway.

Officers have appealed for anyone who may have filmed the major incident on the M27 eastbound on a dashboard camera to come forward.

The five-vehicle crash unfolded just before junction nine and officers say a man believed to be in his 40s died after the silver Ford Focus he was driving collided with a DAF artic lorry and another vehicle.

He died at the scene and officers today are still carrying out enquiries to confirm his identity and contact all next-of-kin.

The lorry driver, a 53-year-old man from Wiltshire, was shaken but uninjured.

The other vehicles involved were a black Citroen C5 driven by a 53-year-old man from Hedge End, a silver Vauxhall Zafira driven by a 29-year-old man from Eastleigh and carrying four passengers, a 25-year-old woman and three young children, and a black Honda CR-Z driven by a 39-year-old man from Swindon.

Daily Echo:

The horrifying crash, which resulted in a fireball engulfing a lorry cab, happened at 9.15am on Thursday.

Drivers were stuck in traffic for more than six hours after police and the Highways Agency closed the section of road to allow for investigations and recovery work to take place.

Thousands of drivers were caught up in the ensuing chaos across the county as the road network struggled to cope with motorists taking diverted routes.

Engineers carried out work throughout the night to repair the highway after flames caused significant damage to the surface.

The motorway was eventually reopened at 6am yesterday.

Daily Echo:

It led to calls urging people to have their say on how local authorities and emergency services can coordinate the aftermath of crashes to prevent the network from regularly grinding to a halt.

Sergeant Adrienne Jerram, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “This is a very complex investigation into a serious collision in which one person died.

“We have spoken to all the drivers involved and at this time we are focussing on establishing the exact sequence of events leading to the collision as well as which vehicles were in contact with one another.

“A lot of people were driving along that stretch of the motorway yesterday morning and I'd like to thank everyone who has come forward with information so far. I'd still like to hear from you if you've not yet spoken to us and can help with our enquiries, especially if you witnessed the collision or saw any of the vehicles involved.

“In particular, I'm aware there are video clips of the incident recorded on dashboard cameras from vehicles passing by and I am very keen to hear from anyone who can us provide with this footage.”