A four vehicle crash closed the M6 near Wednesbury in the rush hour today – causing motorists delays of more than an hour.

Police closed the northbound carriageway after a HGV, a van and two cars collided at around 7.50am between junction 9 for Wed-nesbury and 10 at Walsall.

Queues tailed back around seven miles to junction 6 at Gravelly Hill as vehicles crawled along the motorway to exit at junction 9.

There were also delays on the M5 from junction 2 at Oldbury up to the M6 due to the tailbacks.

Fire crews from West Bromwich, Handsworth, Walsall and the major rescue unit from West Bromwich  used cutting equipment to free a woman passenger, aged in her 20s, from a car.

She was taken by ambulance to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton.

A  Cannock office worker said: “I was delayed around 40 minutes, but I was was of the lucky ones because I was close to the accident. We were crawling along for a while then we stopped.”

The accident was moved to the hard shoulder at 9.10am and the road was reopened.