Three lanes of M6 closed after lorries crash
Three lanes of the M6 motorway were closed today, causing major gridlock after a crash involving three lorries.
The collision took place on the northbound carriageway between junctions five for Castle Bromwich and junction six for Spaghetti Junction, Birmingham.
First reports of the smash were made to emergency services around 9.20am.
The Highways Agency confirmed three HGVs were involved in the crash. It forced the closure of the hard shoulder and the two lanes nearest to it, leaving just the lane on the furthest right of the carriageway open.
It is not yet known what injuries were sustained by the people involved.
By 10.30am, five-mile long queues had formed, and drivers were faced with 30-minute delays.
The agency meanwhile confirmed there had been a diesel spill from a tractor unit of one of the HGVs involved in the collision, which would also need to be cleared.
Fire crews and the ambulance service were both sent to the scene.
Rush hour commuters were meanwhile caught in long delays after a crash closed a major Black Country route.
The A4123 Birmingham New Road, heading towards Oldbury, was completely shut in Tividale after the smash at just after 8am.
A lorry crashed with a car, a black Polo, which then hit the metal fence on the central reservation of the dual carriageway, near to its junction with Lower City Road.
