Shed load gridlock
Motorists were caught up in chaos after a lorry shed 10 tonnes of glass on the M6 in Stafford today.
Motorists were caught up in chaos after a lorry shed 10 tonnes of glass on the M6 in Stafford today.
Traffic was backed up along the northbound carriageway of the M6 after the incident at 6.20am in the area of roadworks close to junction 13.
Both the slip road from the A449 Wolverhampton Road and lane one of the M6 were closed as a result of the incident, with traffic queues building as the clean-up operation took place.
Annie Harris, spokesman for the Highways Agency said: "Ten tonnes of glass came off the lorry across lane one of the motorway which had to be closed.
"This happened in the middle of the roadworks at junction 13 so it did cause us some major problems. The contractors moved the glass onto the slip road, which is still closed this morning so that the lane could be opened as soon as possible."
Lane one was reopened by 9.20am when work began to clear the sliproad, also currently undergoing works.
This morning's delays follow serious problems on the M6 southbound during rush hour yesterday evening. A total of ten vehicles were involved in two separate incidents which saw lanes closed and brought traffic to a standstill at the peak of rush hour.
Although there were no serious injuries, it meant more misery for commuters battling their way home from work in heavy traffic.
The first incident occurred between junction 15 and junction 14 when five vehicles crashed on the southbound carriageway, at 4pm yesterday. One patient suffered whiplash and three children were left in shock following the accidents, although none of the drivers or passengers were taken to hospital.
The second accident occurred at the same location, between 15 and 14, just south of Stafford services just an hour-and-a-half later and a spokesman for the ambulance service said the shunting-type accident could have been caused by drivers distracted by the earlier wreckage.
The incident involved a van, three cars and a coach and two people were taken to Staffordshire General Hospital, one with a back injury and one, thought to be a passenger on the coach, with facial injuries.
In an unrelated incident a teenage pedestrian was hit by a silver Honda on the A449 Wolverhampton Road at at 6.10pm. He was taken to Staffordshire General Hospital with a leg injury and was subsequently taken to the Birmingham Children's Hospital when his condition worsened.
The incident occurred close to what was the Garth Hotel, in Moss Pit, Stafford. Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact PC 5375 Jodie Hardyman at Stafford Police Station on 08453302010.
