WEDS PM: M62 closed after fire - rush hour latest

Jul 8 2009 By Andrew Jackson

4.45 update

The Highways Agency said the westbound carriageway was re-opened shortly before 2pm when traffic was backed up more than five miles past Outlane.

Later this afternoon they re-opened lane three of the eastbound carriageway to allow some of the many hundreds of vehicles trapped in the jam, which at one point stretched back 10 miles to the Heywood junction.

Lanes one and two are expected to remain closed until well into the evening as fire crews continue clearing up after the vehicle blaze.

3.39pm update

POLICE fear the M62 will remain closed until 5pm after a lorry fire on the moors.

Thousands of drivers have been stuck in traffic jams after police shut the busy trans-Pennine motorway at lunchtime because of a lorry fire.

The blazing vehicle was on the eastbound lanes but both carriegways were shut as fire crews raced to the scene.

Police and Highways Agency officers are now trying to ease the congestion by diverting vehicles off the motorway on the slip roads at Junction 22 at Windy Hill.