A caravan overturned on the M62 after a smash with a lorry resulting in the motorway being closed for three hours.

The closure resulted in 15 mile tailbacks - and even saw some motorists reversing down slip roads to avoid joining the queues.

Highways Agency bosses and police said the accident happened on the westbound side of the motorway close to junction 22 at Rishworth Moor just after 10:30am.

The smash almost completely destroyed the caravan with recovery teams saying it was 'falling apart'.

Overturned caravan on M62 westbound

Huge queues built up on the motorway with images from Scammonden Bridge showing the tailbacks which stretched as far as Hartshead Moor services.

A police spokesperson confirmed there are no reports of any injuries and that neither fire nor an ambulance were needed.

They added: "We were called at 10.36am to reports of a RTC between a lorry and a caravan. The caravan has overturned and was in two lanes.”

Queues on the M62 after caravan overturns

Highways Agency said: "We were called at 10.37am to reports of a collision just before the exit slip road at junction 22 of the M62 westbound.

“A car pulling a caravan has overturned in lane one. They’ve become detached, with one ending up in lane one while the other came to rest in lane three."

Three motorists were spoken to by officers for reversing down slip roads to avoid the queues.

All lanes reopened at 2pm but severe delays were due to remain until about 4pm.

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