A lorry hauling a 17-ton container toppled on to its side as it was going round a busy traffic island, causing chaos in Staffordshire today.

It was among a series of accidents in the area – one of which left an elderly woman dead and another pensioner seriously hurt. The lorry crashed on Wall Island, Lichfield, at the junction of the A5 and A5127 at 5.20am.

Sgt Barry Dutton, of Staffordshire Police’s Trent Valley division, said: “The driver took the island at an angle and the 40ft shipping container tipped, causing the lorry to tip over.”

Sgt Dutton said the accident caused tailbacks on the A5, A5127 and A38.

A crane had to be brought in to right the lorry which had come from Felixstowe and was hauling a load of electrical goods.

The island was finally fully reopened at 9am.

An elderly woman from London died in hospital following a two-car smash on the A38 near Bassetts Pole island, Sutton Coldfield, on Saturday.

She was a passenger in a green Reliant Robin that had stopped on the southbound carriageway about 300 yards north of the island at about 4.55pm.

The car was in collision with a blue Ford Focus travelling in the same direction and was knocked into a road sign and tree.

The elderly driver of the Reliant Robin is in a “serious” condition in Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham.

The carriageway was closed for three hours.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to the collision to contact Pc Kelly Bufton at Lichfield police station on 0300 123 4455.

Meanwhile two men were taken to hospital after a car went off the road in Burntwood and hit a tree.