Lorry and HGV recovery in Erith, the last stop before the Dartford Crossing
Erith is where London’s south-bank industry meets the approach to the QE2 Bridge. The A2016 arrives from Thamesmead and Belvedere, the A206 Bronze Age Way takes lorries on towards Crayford and the A282 for the crossing, and between them Church Manorway, the Manor Road industrial estate and the yards down at Slade Green hold aggregate wharves, scrap processors, concrete batchers, plant hire and a run of distribution sheds. The lorries are big, laden and often on their way to Kent or the Midlands, which means a breakdown here can be a long way from home.
K9 Recovery’s south-east London heavy team handles Erith directly, and because we can pass a truck to one of our 3,000 vetted drivers anywhere in the country, a recovery that starts on Church Manorway can finish in Manchester if that is where the depot is.
📞 Call now: 07301 118118
The crossing approach and Bronze Age Way
Traffic for the Dartford Crossing builds along the A206 and the A2016 long before the A282 itself, and on a bad day the queue reaches back into Erith. A lorry that fails in that queue, on the Bronze Age Way dual carriageway or on the slip roads at the Erith and Slade Green junctions, has nowhere to go. Our operators come in behind the casualty on the correct carriageway, use the recovery truck as a barrier, lift, and move the vehicle onto the nearest estate road. If the crossing was the destination, we can complete the tow across the bridge to Kent at the price agreed on the phone.
Erith roads that stop lorries
- Church Manorway — the main route into the wharves and the riverside works; heavy tippers and artics on a road with tight junctions and yard entrances on both sides.
- Manor Road — a long, narrow industrial road lined with yards, where a broken-down 26-tonner blocks both directions.
- Slade Green and Moat Lane — the rail depot approaches and the industrial units towards Crayford, with low bridges and tight turns.
- A2016 at Belvedere — the dual carriageway section with barriers and no refuges between Picardy Manorway and the Erith turn.
- Fraser Road and West Street — the town centre and riverside streets where delivery lorries fail on tight corners.
What comes through Erith and how we recover it
We handle rigid lorries at 7.5, 18 and 26 tonnes and articulated lorries up to around 30 tonnes, loaded or unloaded. The mix here is heavier and dirtier than in most of London.
Tippers, tankers and bulk
The wharves and the concrete plants send out laden tippers and mixers all day, and the scrap and recycling yards run hook-loaders and walking-floor trailers. A laden tipper with a failed PTO on Church Manorway is recovered as it stands, on an underlift rated for its weight, with the load left in place unless it has shifted dangerously. Tankers are handled with attention to the product and the paperwork.
Plant and containers by HIAB
Plant hire yards, the riverside development sites and the container handling at the wharves all produce lifts that a tow truck cannot do. Our HIAB crane recovery moves excavators, rollers, generators, cabins and containers, and it is the same equipment we describe on our HIAB recovery London page.
Terms for Erith operators
- 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- No membership and no call centre.
- A clear price agreed before the truck rolls.
- Fully insured.
- London holds our largest team and heaviest recovery equipment, so response along the A2016 is fast.
- Reviewed 4.9/5 on Google by over 200 customers.
Call 07301 118118 for a heavy recovery in Erith, Belvedere or Slade Green. Cars and vans across the capital are handled on our London vehicle recovery page.
What our customers say
“Great service, quick and a good rate compared to most. Really good all round.”
— Ibrahim Suleman
“Excellent service from start to finish. Professional and respectful. Would recommend to anybody.”
— Andrew Chambers
“Kept me updated the whole way and delivered without a mark. Faultless.”
— Jonathan
Erith heavy recovery questions
My artic has broken down in the Dartford Crossing queue on the A206 at Erith. Can you tow it over the bridge to Kent?
Yes. We recover the vehicle from the queue first, then complete the tow across the QE2 Bridge to your Kent destination at the price agreed when you call. Tell us the gross weight so we send the right underlift.
The lorry is stuck on Church Manorway with yard traffic building up behind it. How do you handle that?
Church Manorway jobs are a priority because the wharves depend on it. Keep the hazards on and, if the vehicle can be moved at all, get it as close to the kerb as possible. We will lift it where it stands and reverse it into the nearest yard that has room so the road reopens.
Can you lift a mini excavator off a site at Slade Green and take it to a yard in Crayford?
Yes, with the HIAB. Give us the machine weight and the site access, and we will lift it onto a flatbed and deliver it to Crayford.