COMMUTERS faced a morning of misery today after a crash on the M4 caused massive tailbacks, and trains were cancelled.

Jams on the eastbound M4 this morning stretched back from Junction 26 at the Brynglas tunnels to Junction 32 in Cardiff after a van ended up on the central reservation.

Police, firefighters and the ambulance service attended the scene of the one-vehicle accident after Junction 27 at High Cross.

As a result of the accident at 5.38am, eastbound traffic on the M4 stretched back more than ten miles to Cardiff, and the A48(M) at Eastern Avenue was also heavily congested.

By 8.40am all lanes of the eastbound carriageway were re-opened, but traffic was still at a standstill.

Westbound traffic on the M4 was also affected, and the Coldra roundabout at Junction 24 of the motorway was reported to be at a standstill at 8am.

Two lanes of the eastbound carriageway were closed while the van was recovered and a damaged lamppost removed from the scene.

Inspector Gerwyn Birch, from the Gwent Police control room, said: "Minor injuries occurred to a person travelling in the vehicle.

"There is a tailback of traffic on the M4 and it is anticipated it will take two hours to remove this lamppost."

He was unable to give details of another reported accident on Malpas Road, which was said to be causing delays.

A South Wales Fire Service spokesman said a commercial van was resting on the central reservation.

He said the police had called out the fire service to make the vehicle safe.

One commuter said: "I was coming into Newport from Cardiff at 7am, and you could see traffic was already down to a crawl on the motorway after Junction 28."

Meanwhile, following the Berkshire train crash outside Reading, every other train from Cardiff to Paddington - which stop at Newport - was cancelled.

The 55-minutes-past-the- hour service was cancelled for much of today, but the 25- minutes-past-the-hour service continued as normal.