Pothole on the M25 hidden in darkness 'takes out' 20 cars in mid-morning chaos as highways boss blames 'infrastructure defect' and closes road

This is the staggering moment today when at least 20 cars lined up on the hard shoulder of the M25 after being ‘taken out’ by a ‘massive’ pothole on the motorway that was ‘hidden by darkness’. 

A row of cars had their hazard lights flashing after their motors were left undriveable when they plunged into the hole in Surrey during rush hour traffic.

Parents with their young children and Uber drivers who had picked people up from Heathrow airport were left stranded between Staines and Chertsey as they stood beside their crippled cars.

Some were quoted more than £200 to repair their vehicles with one motorist deciding to walk an eight-mile round trip in order to buy a tyre and fix it himself.  

National Highways warned just after…