Drivers experience huge delays on M6 following lorry fire

Drivers experienced long delays of up to 90 minutes on the M6 this morning after a lorry carrying soft drinks and toiletries caught fire north of Birmingham.

It happened around 7 o'clock on the southbound carriageway of the motorway, between Junction 7 for Great Barr and Junction 6 for Gravelly Hill, Spaghetti Junction.

Traffic was held in both directions and all southbound lanes remained closed for more than an hour as emergency services worked to extinguish the fire.

A West Midlands Fire Service spokesman said: "At 7.10am we were alerted to a lorry on fire on the southbound M6 motorway, between junctions 7 (Great Barr) and 6 (Gravelly Hill). Three fire engines responded, crewed by firefighters from West Bromwich, Walsall and Erdington fire stations.

"They arrived to find the HGV well alight. The vehicle was carrying soft drinks and toiletries. The fire was extinguished by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and using hose reel jets. By 7.55am they were damping the vehicle down.

"At 8.20am our colleagues at National Highways confirmed that one lane of the southbound motorway had been reopened, but that three lanes were likely to remain closed for some time for vehicle recovery and infrastructure repair."

There was heavy congestion from Junction 9 southbound and on the M5 northbound between Junction 1 and the interchange with the M6.

The lane closures also led to congestion to Junction 10a for the M54 and Junction 1 on the M5 for West Bromwich.

The fire resulted in some delays on the northbound carriageway close to where the lorry caught fire too, as drivers slowed down to inspect the scene.

Highways Englands carried out repairs to the road surface and the overhead gantry and three of four lanes were reopened shortly after 10:30am.