A GERMAN lorry driver is due to appear in courty this morning (Thursday) charged with four counts of causing death by dangerous driving, following the horrific crash on the M11 near Epping which left four people dead.

Four cars, two lorries and a car transporter loaded with nine cars were involved in the accident near the Gaynes Park bridge at Coopersale about half a mile north of the M25 interchange on Friday afternoon.

The road was not fully reopened for some ten hours, as emergency services battled to free the dead and injured from the wreckage.

Martin Dawson, 41, from Beckenham, Kent, who was a front seat passenger in a red Vauxhall Astra car, his daughter Laura, 13, and son Robert, nine, from West Wickham, Croydon, who were in the back seat, were certified dead at the scene. The woman driver was freed by firefighters and taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow.

The fourth victim was the driver of another car which burst into flames. One of the lorries also caught fire.

The Essex Air Ambulance landed on the southbound carriageway to take one of the injured to hospital.

The road was closed in both directions while the helicopter was on the scene, and the southbound carriageway, which was initially closed, was reduced to one lane past the scene as police tried to clear the backlog of traffic which had built up back to the Harlow A414 junction.

One report estimated that some 1,000 vehicles were caught up in the tailbacks which stretched back onto the M25 towards Waltham Abbey and Brentwood, and back up the M11 towards Bishop's Stortford.

The road was closed later in the evening as heavy lifting gear was brought in to lift one of the lorries off one of the cars.

The emergency services were met with an horrific scene when they first arrived following the 2.15pm accident. At the height of the rescue effort, five fire crews and a rescue tender were on the scene.

Acting Chief Inspector Simon Morgan said the area was "like a battle scene like something from the Third World War".

Green tarpaulins were used to cover two of the cars, which had been crushed by two of the lorries.

Speaking at the scene, Essex Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Gary Jeffrey described one of the cars as being "beyond recognition".

It has been reported that police are having to use dental records to identify the fourth person who died.

The 47-year-old German lorry driver was arrested on his release from Princess Alexandra Hospital, where he had been treated for injuries received in the crash.