A lorry fire on the M6 motorway at Stafford caused 15-mile tailbacks and commuter misery during rush-hour traffic.

Firefighters spent almost seven hours dealing with the fire, which involved about 30 tonnes of waste paper.

Fire crews were called to the incident on the southbound carriageway, just south of junction 14, at 6.10pm yesterday.

Crew manager Chris Berry, of Stafford fire station, said the lorry was being towed after breaking down in the north of the country.

He said: “It contained baled waste paper which somehow caught fire. The driver of the towing vehicle pulled over, unhitched the lorry and drove a safe distance away.

“We protected the lorry cab but let the paper burn for a bit, then we got a digger and dug it all out and loaded it into a skip for damping down.

“There were three fire engines there at one point and we were there until 1am. The motorway had to be reduced down to one lane until it was all cleared away, so at one point there was a 15-mile tailback, causing a lot of upset for people on a Friday night. We don’t know how the paper caught fire but at least no-one was hurt,” he added.