World’s worst traffic jam could last into next month

After 11 days the world's longest traffic jam between Beijing and Zhangjiakou in China shows little sign of clearing, and authorities fear it could last for another 10 days.

The snarl-up began on August 14 and has reached a maximum of 60km in length. At times traffic has been moving less than a mile in an entire day and some drivers have taken five days to clear the bottleneck.

Hundreds of traffic police have now been drafted in to help clear the congestion, but normal service will not be resumed for some time - and probably not until next month.

Ironically the tailback has been precipitated by roadworks designed to alleviate congestion on the Beijing to Tibet expressway. The road has also seen a marked rise in traffic in recent years as the number of coal lorries supplying fuel to the capital from the mines of Inner Mongolia has increased.

Stranded truckers and motorists have been forced to sleep on the asphalt and, as there are no facilities by the roadside, they have been forced go to the toilet in the surrounding countryside.

Many of the trucks have been carrying unrefrigerated food which has perished in the heat.

The main beneficiaries of the chaos appear to be local food and drink vendors. It is reported that bottles of water are changing hands for up to 10 yuan - 10 times the normal price.

Chaos on China's road network is expected to get worse as the economy expands. Cities are routinely strangled by traffic congestion and according to the official newspaper the average speed of traffic in Beijing is set to fall below 15kmph. By 2015 there could be 7m private cars in the capital, in addition to the goods traffic, and 1,900 new vehicles are bought every day. ·