Twenty hours of chaos as scrap falls onto M6

Huge tailbacks built up on the M6 at Walsall during a 20-hour operation to remove scrap metal which had spilled onto the carriageway after a lorry overturned on a road bridge above.

Motorists were stuck in 10-mile queues for up to two and a half hours, with traffic backed up from junction 10 at Walsall to Spaghetti Junction.

A 200-yard stretch of the inside lane on the M6 remained closed overnight but the motorway was fully reopened today.

Click here to see pictures of the incident

Following yesterday's accident, congestion also affected the M5, with a three-mile tailback to West Bromwich as drivers queued to get onto the M6.

Queues also formed on the A454 Wolverhampton Road through The Keyway and beyond the Lunt island and, in the opposite direction, along the Black Country Route into Bilston and Dudley. There was also some congestion on Wolverhampton Road West to Willenhall and Bentley and on B roads as drivers sought alternative routes.

For nine hours after the incident happened at 9.42am yesterday, only one lane was open between junction nine at Wednesbury and junction 10 where traffic heading north was forced to exit before rejoining the motorway. The lorry was taken away from the scene just before 5pm after traffic officers had removed the remaining load and the vehicle was put back upright.

Afterwards, an emergency highways crew from Walsall Council moved in to repair the damaged barrier, pavement and road, blocking all access to the A454 Wolverhampton Road into Walsall from the traffic island while they worked.

The lorry is not thought to have caused substantial damage.

Highways Agency spokeswoman Jo Carroll said northbound queues had remained severe all day, with two-hour delays still in progress just before 6pm when three of the four lanes were opened.

Glyn Oliver, traffic and transportation service manager at Walsall Council, said: "The incident happened on the bridge structure which is owned by the Highways Agency. All the damage in yesterday's incident occurred to the Highways Agency structure. The debris went onto the M6 which is also maintained by the Highways Agency which co-ordinated all the works and diversions required."

Office worker Stephen Thornton was stuck in the traffic for more than two hours as he made his way from Birmingham to his home in Coalpool, Walsall, yesterday afternoon.

"The queues were unbelievable," said the 28-year-old.

No one was seriously injured in the accident, despite the falling debris.