Chaos in Bilston as lorry spills sand on road

This was the scene after a lorry carrying sand overturned, spilling its load across the road and causing hours of traffic problems on a busy dual carriageway and surrounding roads.

The Black Country New Road near to the Moxley island, at Bilston was closed by police for more than seven hours after the lorry overturned, covering the route in sand.

West Midlands Police spokesman Gina Lycett said the driver of the lorry suffered minor head injuries and was taken to New Cross Hospital.

The lorry toppled over at around 12.50pm yesterday, dumping piles of builders' sand onto the road.

Council staff spent all afternoon trying to clear the sand away before it was reopened to traffic at 8pm.

Cars were at a standstill during rush-hour at around 5pm. The chaos added up to an hour to journey times.

Some drivers made U-turns on the Black Country New Road, further adding to the problems.

Motorist Louise Blunt, aged 27, from Birmingham, was among the hundreds of motorists who got stuck in the traffic travelling towards West Bromwich from Wolverhampton at around 5pm.

She said: "I was travelling down the A41 from Bilston towards West Bromwich when I met the traffic. The vehicles headed towards Wolverhampton were at a standstill. The debris and sand on the road was still being cleared up and traffic was backed up along the road.

"I took a detour through Darlaston and Wednesbury, before finally reaching West Bromwich, but many drivers were doing the same and it added around an hour to my journey."

By Laura Blyth