M6 closed leaving 17-mile tailbacks after three lorries crash
Motorists have been stuck in 17-mile queues after the M6 was closed following a three-lorry crash.
The crash happened between J14, Stafford, and J15, Stoke, at around 5.25am which saw one lorry shed its six ton load.
One of the drivers was treated for minor injuries by paramedics but was discharged at the scene.
The southbound carriageway was closed in the aftermath. It reopened by mid-morning however Highways England reported queues as long as 17 miles, stretching up to J17 at Sandbach.
Dramatic pictures showed one lorry with its windscreen smashed after it had came to rest against the central reservation.
The vehicle had shed two three-ton paper bales. A Highways England spokesman said the objects 'took longer than expected' to clear up due to its weight and size.
A spokesman for Highways England said: "The crash involved three HGVs. One shed its load of two paper bales, each weighing three tonnes.
"The incident was reported to us at 5.25am. At the moment we have got around 17 miles of congestion. That is being hampered by several broken down vehicles (within the queues)."
A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "We were called to a collision (on the M6) between J14 and J15 at 5.43am.
"We sent one ambulance to the scene. We assessed one patient, a man, who was one of the lorry drivers. He was treated for minor injuries before being discharged at the scene."
