Chaos as bin lorry overturns in Lichfield
Bags of rubbish were strewn all over a Staffordshire road after a bin lorry toppled over and shed its load during rush-hour.
The accident happened on the A5 close to Wall Island in Lichfield.
A white Volvo Artic lorry toppled over and spewed bags of rubbish and household waste all over the road, which was later moved to the side.
The driver, a man in his late 40s, was not injured.
Police attended the scene and closed the A5 for an hour. Vehicles were diverted.
Staffordshire Police spokeswoman Sarah Davison said: "We were called to report of an overturned lorry on the A5 at Wall Island just after 3.05pm. The collision involved one vehicle, a white Volvo Artic, which spilled its load of household rubbish over the carriageway.
"The road was initially partially blocked but had to be closed fully for around an hour between 6.45 and 7.45pm while recovery took place."
West Midlands Ambulance was initially called but crews did not attend the scene.
Michaela Powell, director of Aspire People in Sutton Coldfield, was driving to Virgin Active gym in Lichfield yesterday at around 5pm and became caught up in the traffic problems.
She said: "I was going to the gym and I came across all of the traffic.
"I had to turn around and go back home as it was really bad."
Another driver, who did not wish to be named, said it took her almost two hours to get home to Lichfield from Sutton Coldfield. She said there was almost a mile of traffic along the Birmingham Road from the direction of Sutton Coldfield.
There were also problems on the M6 and M5 link road near junction eight of the M6 in West Bromwich last night while worked continued to repair potholes.
