20-mile tailbacks as thousands stuck in M6 chaos

Thousands of motorists were stuck in queues stretching up to 20 miles long on the M6 today after a lorry smashed through the central reservation and collided with five cars.

The motorway closed for an hour after the lorry travelling southbound between junction 6 for Birmingham and junction 7 Great Barr crashed through the central reservation on to the northbound carriageway.

Click on the image on the right to see more pictures.

No-one was seriously hurt in the smash, with paramedics treating a number of walking wounded. At the peak of the accident, drivers were in queues for one hour and 30 minutes.

Southbound, queues were more than 18 miles back to junction 12 Cannock. Northbound, the tailbacks stretched around five miles to Junction 4A for the M42.

There was congestion on surrounding roads. The A38 Aston Expressway leading onto Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham and the A34 in Great Barr were jammed. Cars along the B4167

Hamstead Road in Great Barr were also queuing. In Walsall, queues on the Wolverhampton Road and Black Country Route stretched for two miles. There were tailbacks of around four miles on the Stafford Road.

Officer worker Emma Houghton was stuck on the M6 for one hour and 15 minutes. Her journey from Kings Heath to Wolverhampton usually takes 40 minutes. Miss Houghton, aged 43, said: "I was extremely frustrated."

Two lanes on the north and southbound carriageways re-opened at 8.45am.