Traffic congestion hit two major routes into Leicester yesterday morning following three accidents.
Drivers were delayed by up to an hour on the A6 after a five-vehicle crash south of the Leicester Racecourse roundabout.
The congestion was made worse by a two-vehicle accident further up the A6 near Leicester High School for Girls.
Vehicles tailed back towards the southern outskirts of Oadby as emergency services worked to clear the debris.
A lorry and a car were also involved in a collision in Welford Road, Wigston, shortly afterwards, when a driver received minor injuries. That caused tailbacks for nearly an hour.
Only one driver from the three accidents needed hospital treatment.
A driver who was delayed in the tailback on the A6 said: "There was a pile-up of vehicles in the city-bound outside lane. It looked as if at least three cars travelling towards the roundabout had collided with a fourth vehicle which was facing county bound.
"Emergency services were at the scene and drivers were standing on the central reservation talking to police officers.
"Shortly afterwards, I came across another collision the other side of the roundabout near the entrance to Leicester High School."
An eyewitness who lives near the school said: "There was a car in the entrance to the drive where I live. There was a young man in the driver's seat with a collar on and he was being treated by an ambulance crew.
"I could see the incident on the opposite site of the roundabout and the long tailback ."
A bus passenger from Oadby said: "It took an hour to get through the congestion."
A fire service spokesman said a crew from Wigston attended the five-vehicle incident where two people were slightly injured.
No-one was trapped and the fire service made the vehicles safe.
A spokesperson for East Midlands Ambulance Service said: "Two emergency calls were received relating to road traffic collisions near Oadby Race Course in Leicester.
"We dispatched a fast response vehicle and double crewed ambulance to the first incident following a call at 7.51am and a patient was taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary.
"The second call was received at 7.52am and the caller reported five vehicles being involved. We dispatched a double crewed ambulance and our clinicians assessed the people involved. No-one was taken to hospital."
A spokesperson for the police said they received calls about the two car crashes within minutes of each other.
She said the five vehicle collision occurred on the city bound carriageway.
She said: "It appears a county-bound vehicle ended up on the city bound lane.
"We want to find out how that happened and would appeal to anyone with information to contact us."
She confirmed one person needed hospital treatment after an unrelated collision involving two cars near Leicester High School for Girls.
She said the driver of a car received slight injuries after being involved in a collision with a lorry in Welford Road in Wigston at 8.40am.
She said it took 50 minutes to clear the accident and fully open the road.
