M54 back fully open after three crashes leave ten injured and close motorway for six hours

An eight-car pile-up, a three-car smash and a motorbike crash all took place within two hours of each other this morning, with at least four people taken to hospital, while a lorry fire and diesel spill led to the need to resurface the carriageway.

As a result the A5 was closed between the M54 and the A49 at Shrewsbury from 9am to 3.30pm, causing long delays for drivers heading towards Shrewsbury and North Wales.

Disruption started even before the first crash when a flatbed van caught fire near Wellington at 5.30am, causing delays until around 7am while the scene was cleared.

Then during the peak of rush hour eight cars driving westbound were involved in a crash on the A5 between the end of the M54 and the A49 at Preston Island, Shrewsbury.

It is not known how many cars collided with each other in that pile-up, which left one woman injured, but passing motorists reported that eight vehicles had stopped close to each other while damage was clearly visible on at least two cars.

The cars were blocking a stretch of the outside lane and at 8.20am traffic continued to pass towards Shrewsbury on the inside lane, before officers shut both westbound lanes from Junction 7 at around 8.45am.

Motorists heading towards Shrewsbury and North Wales were diverted off the M54 at Junction 7 and through Atcham, causing delays through the area and tailbacks on the motorway as far as Junction 6 for Ketley, until emergency services were then called to a three-car crash at around 10am.

Eight people at the second crash were seen by paramedics, including two elderly casualties who had to be cut free through the roof of their car.

The air ambulance landed on the motorway and flew a man in his 70s to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, while a woman, also thought to be in her 70s, joined him at the hospital after being taken by land ambulance.

West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman Jamie Arrowsmith said: "A man believed to be in his 70s was suffering a slightly reduced level of consciousness and was treated for a head injury.

"He was immobilised and transported to the air ambulance, which had landed on the carriageway, before being flown to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

"A woman, also thought to be in her 70s, was treated for a suspected fractured wrist and chest pain, given pain relief and immobilised before being taken to the same hospital by land ambulance.

"There were another five patients in a second car, two adults and three children.

"Thankfully none of them suffered serious injuries and they were all discharged on scene.

"A woman from the third car did not require attention from ambulance staff."

As a result the motorway closure was extended to Junction 6 until the three vehicles involved were recovered and the area was made safe.

The M54 was reopened to Junction 7 at around 2pm, but drivers heading towards Shrewsbury and North Wales continued to be diverted through Uckington and Atcham while emergency resurfacing work took place.

The motorway was not fully reopened until 3.30pm - nearly eight hours after the original crash.

Sam Harris, of Highways England, said the road had been closed "for hydro-blasting of the carriageway due to a diesel spillage."

Jordan Reynolds, aged 21 and from Shrewsbury, managed to avoid the traffic while she was travelling eastbound along the A5 during the morning rush hour.

She described the scene of the pile-up, saying: "Some of the cars looked very badly damaged, but others weren't quite so bad.

"It was quite shocking to see how many cars were involved.

"The tailbacks started after that and it was probably for a good mile, further down the road the traffic had been stopped by a police car and there were even more tailbacks."

Meanwhile a man and a woman were left lying next to their motorbike on the motorway between junctions 3 and 2 of the same motorway after a crash at around 9.45am.

The pair were both taken to hospital in Wolverhampton, as Mr Arrowsmith explained: "The man was treated for lower back pain and chest pain whilst the woman had suffered an arm injury.

"She was given pain relief before they were both taken to New Cross Hospital for further assessment."