Traffic chaos as lorry sheds load

A lorry shed its load of 20 tons of bricks near a busy roundabout in Cannock today, causing traffic chaos.

A white articulated lorry dropped its huge haul on the Longford Roundabout at 8am.

Police closed two entrances to the roundabout and diverted traffic away from the area, causing two-mile tailbacks.

A section of the A460 to the A5 at Wedges Mill was shut and drivers were unable to get on to the A5 to the M6 Toll for around two hours. Officers were still clearing the scene at lunchtime today.

West Midlands spokesman Carol Evans said: "Twenty tons of brick have been shed off the lorry. Diversions are in place and they are still clearing up. The bricks have been moved off the carriageway.

"The A5 to the M6 toll road has been re-opened but the A460 remains closed to the A5 Wedges Mill.

She added: "It doesn't seem that the incident was weather-related, but we don't know at the moment.

"Officers will be investigating but we won't know the cause until their work has been completed."

Sophie Wain, 21, from Wolverhampton, who works in sales, said: "The bricks covered the whole left side of the island.

"All the traffic was backed up from the motorway up by the M6 toll road. It took me one hour and 10 minutes to get into work today and it usually takes only 25 minutes."

Receptionist Jean Jowett, 62, of Fordhouses, near Wolverhampton, added: "It has been a hassle getting in this morning. A police car was covering the entrance to the island so we just had to go left and round the outskirts.

"I''m usually in work for 8.30am but I didn't get there until 9.05am this morning."

Fog also caused delays on M6 Toll this morning, as traffic slowed to a crawl due to poor visibility.