Rush hour traffic ground to a halt after road accidents throughout Co Antrim caused serious tailbacks.

Thousands of frustrated drivers faced massive congestion as parts of Belfast, Greenisland, Newtownabbey and Dundonald were brought to a virtual standstill.

The disruption led to some commuters reporting journeys taking up to THREE HOURS longer than usual.

During the traffic chaos, a boy believed to be aged around 12 died in an accident in Dundonald at around 6.30pm.

And a woman in her forties was left with serious head injuries in a separate incident in Newtownabbey.

Traffic began to build on the M5 foreshore in both directions at around 3pm yesterday following the accident on the Station Road in Greenisland.

One car was involved, and it is understood an electrical pole was damaged. A man was taken to hospital, with what police described as "non life threatening injuries".

However the Upper Station Road was closed during the police operation - which lasted until around 9pm.

A second road traffic collision on the Carnmoney Road North which left a woman seriously injured during rush hour also sparked major tailbacks in Newtownabbey.

A police spokesman said the accident took place at about 5.40pm.

"A female pedestrian aged in her 40s had been struck by a red Citroen car.

"The woman was taken to hospital with serious head injuries."

Motorists heading to the Odyssey Arena for the WWE Smackdown event were also hit by slow-moving traffic.

Police issued a warning that traffic heading to towards the arena faced queues which backed onto the M2.

Meanwhile, a third serious road traffic collision in Dundonald also triggered delays.

It is understood a young boy died after he was hit by a car on the dual carriageway between Belfast and Newtownards at about 6.30pm.

Last night's scenes were similar to the gridlock motorists faced in February when police closed both the countrybound M2 and M5 foreshore motorways after a man died.

The PSNI shut down the roads for four hours to carry out an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a man after he was hit by a bus.

Thousands were caught in the citywide snarl-up.

In the aftermath of the incident the police and Roads Service admitted that no officers had been deployed to direct traffic.

In October 2006 traffic chaos was again experienced by motorists when the M1 was closed in both directions for six hours after a crash involving two lorries.

After February's incident the Department of Regional Development said it was launching a review to its response to major traffic accidents following the gridlock in Belfast.