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JUNCTION nine of the M25 may have been hexed, the pastor of an Evangelical church has claimed.

Gerald Coates, of the Pioneer Engage Church in Epsom Road, Leatherhead, believes someone "motivated by dark forces" could have been recording messages of evil onto cassette tapes and then strewing the reel around areas they wish to curse.

Mr Coates, who lives in Effingham, said he had found large amounts of tape reels in the area, including around the roundabouts that lead onto junction 9 of the motorway.

He believes this could be the explanation for what he described as a "wholly disproportionate" number of crashes on the Leatherhead section of the M25, as well as the number of people who have taken their lives by jumping from footbridges.

Mr Coates and Tom Winter, a 17-year-old member of his church who lives with him, organised a vigil on the Kingston Road bridge over the carriageway on Saturday (September 18) to pray for the safety of those driving below.

The pastor said 25 to 30 people attended, and he was hopeful the event would have an effect on the accident and fatality rates.

"We are going to be monitoring the number of crashes carefully now," he said.

"I do believe we will see far fewer incidents, but if the trend is not reversed then we will return for another vigil in mid-December."

Mr Coates said the reaction to Saturday’s prayers had been better than he expected.

"Appropriately enough, there had been a major crash at junction 11 and the traffic was backed all the way up to junction 9," he added.

"We prayed silently and aloud, in groups and alone and standing and on our knees.

"People were waving and shouting and beeping their horns, the whole atmosphere was great."

"Black apparition"

Mr Coates said he was not certain there was a hex on the road but that he could not think of another explanation for the collision rates.

"When I moved here eight years ago it quickly became clear to me that there is a wholly disproportionate number of crashes between junctions 10 and 9 and 9 and 8 compared to other areas," he added.

"I cannot think of any natural reason why that would be, because the human failures of not checking a mirror or a blindspot or whatever happen everywhere rather than being concentrated in one small area.

"One man said he had seen this black apparition standing over the M25 and it was that which caused a crash.

"I think people could be cursing it. One thing that people who are involved in the occult do, these people who are motivated by dark forces, is make recording on cassette tapes and then pull them out and put them around the area they have cursed.

"I have been finding huge amounts of this stuff in the area, including around the roundabout that leads onto the motorway."

The M25 around junctions 8, 9 and 10 has seen a number of serious and fatal crashes over the past few years.

In July, four people were left with serious injuries after the airport bus they were travelling in overturned near Redhill.

In February last year, 21-year-old Shivali Dave died after a crash between junctions 8 and 9, and last November one man was injured when five cars collided in the same area.

One of the worst incidents in the history of the M25 was in May 2007, when six people were killed after a van carrying a group of friends on their way home from a stag weekend crashed into the back of a lorry.

A number of people have also taken their lives by jumping from bridges over the motorway.

Grieving widow Janet Catsaras plunged to her death two days before Christmas in 2008, and in 2005 a 52-year-old man from Ashtead died after falling from the Green Lane Bridge.