Lorry fire at Whitchurch

Motorists travelling through Shropshire faced delays today after a lorry was destroyed by a fire. The A41 near Whitchurch had to be closed following the incident shortly after 3.30am.

It happened between the Prees Road and Tilstock Road junctions.

About 50 firefighters from more than 10 different stations attended and spent more than an hour tackling the blaze.

The incident, which involved a HGV carrying meat, caused delays for traffic southbound between the A525 junction and the B5395 Heath Road junction.

The fire also affected motorists on the B5395 Prees Road between A525 and A41.

Firefighters said nobody was hurt, but the lorry was unlikely to be removed until the afternoon. A crane was being called in to remove the truck.

Mike Beach, incident commander, from Whitchurch Fire Station, said: "It involved an articulated lorry and trailer and apparently the driver had been travelling from Scotland on his way to Shrewsbury.

"It was quite a significant fire before we even got there. The cause of it is believed to be something to do with the brakes. They may have overheated."

Richard Ewels, of West Mercia Police, said: "The local authority has been called out to check the road surface for damage.

"It will take some time for the vehicle to cool down sufficiently to be moved."

John Hawker, a spokesman for the West Midlands Ambulance Service, said one ambulance and an incident support officer attended the scene for about half an hour, but revealed the driver of the lorry was uninjured.