M6 closed to recover lorry that lost wheels in crash as motorway covered in debris
The M6 was closed on Monday evening to retrieve a stranded lorry that lost a set of wheels in a crash.
The HGV has been left stranded on the southbound carriageway of the motorway between junction 13 for Stafford and 12 for Cannock after it crashed on Monday afternoon, with a rear axle breaking away.
A video shared on social media showed debris and wheels littering the motorway as the lorry crashed. Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) confirmed that there were no injuries from the crash.
Only one lane out of four was open during the day, with drivers warned to allow extra time for their journeys.
National Highways first reported the incident at 2pm, initially reporting that lanes one and two were shut, before lane three was also closed, leading to delays of more than an hour all afternoon.
At 7.45pm the agency said the southbound carriageway of the motorway was now closed so the HGV can be recovered.
"Lane four will remain open past the scene until 7pm tonight when recovery can begin. At that point the carriageway will be fully closed with traffic diverted via the hollow circle route," an earlier statement said.
"This will take traffic from junction 13 along the A449 southbound to the A5 at Gailey, before heading eastbound to rejoin the M6 at junction 12.
"Recovery is expected to take two hours due to the complexity of the incident.
"The incident has resulted in extensive damage to the nearside safety barrier and damage to the carriageway, both of which will be made safe before the road reopens."
The agency warned that at 3.30pm that delays had reached 90 minutes on the southbound carriageway.
