A woman driver in her 80s caused chaos when she drove the wrong way along the busy A13 in Essex . The dual carriageway was shut for an hour on Monday afternoon after she drove a red Peugeot towards Southend – but on the London-bound stretch . Some cars were forced into the central barrier and one man needed treatment for neck and back injuries . Tailbacks : The dual carriageway was shut for an hour after the pensioner drove a red Peugeot towards Southend - but on the London-bound track . Sam Butt , 33 , from Leigh , was one of those who needed to take evasive action . ' I 'd just changed into the left lane when ... all of a sudden in the right lane I could see this little old lady in her red car . 'She was driving without a worry in the world in the fast lane . In the rear view mirror I could see absolute carnage . ' A car swerved out of the way and went completely into the barrier and the next car did the same . About four cars must have crashed before she finally stopped . 'It was just chaos and it was shocking to see all these cars swerving out of control . It was surreal and if I had n't changed lanes a few seconds earlier it could have been much worse for us . ' Treatment : A man suffered neck and back injuries while the pensioner was taken to Basildon University Hospital as a precaution . The woman was taken to Basildon Hospital as a precaution . An Essex Police spokesman said : 'We received a number of reports of a car travelling the wrong way on the A13 near Basildon . ' A red Peugeot was reported to be driving the wrong way on the London-bound carriageway . ' A number of vehicles were involved in a collision between the Five Bells Interchange and the Pitsea flyover . Enquiries are ongoing . '
Woman drove red Peugeot towards Southend on London-bound stretch . Several cars crashed as she drove wrong way on A13 . Man was left with neck and back injuries after swerving out of the way . Incident closed busy stretch for more than an hour causing big tailbacks .