POLICE have made an urgent appeal for witnesses after a dramatic crash shut the M62 for hours.

They want to hear from any of the thousands of drivers caught up in the motorway chaos.

A 23-year-old man was airlifted to hospital after the crash – but he and four others hurt all miraculously escaped serious injury.

Police were called after two cars collided near Junction 24, Ainley Top on Saturday at around 3pm.

The smash forced police to close part of the motorway for nearly five hours, causing chaos across roads in Huddersfield.

Thousands of drivers were stuck in traffic jams.

Insp Diane Booth, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “At 2.39pm a road traffic collision occurred near Junction 24 of the M62 eastbound.

“At this time a silver BMW X5 and a blue Ford Ka were travelling in the direction of Leeds when they collided together before hitting the nearside crash barrier.

“One injured person from the Ford Ka, a 23-year-old male was subsequently air lifted to Leeds General Infirmary for treatment. He was discharged later in the day.

“Four other persons from both vehicles received minor injuries.

“The carriageway was closed for a number of hours.

“We are appealing to anybody with any information who may have seen the vehicles prior to the collision and we urge them to call police using the non-emergency number 101.”

The eastbound carriageway of the M62 was closed between Junction 24 Ainley Top and Junction 25 Brighouse until around 8pm.

There were also long hold-ups on the opposite carriageway and on many roads around the motorway junctions.

Beth Sykes, of Lindley, was returning home from Christmas shopping at the White Rose Centre when she got caught in traffic on the westbound carriage way.

She said: “We were just about to come off at the Ainley Top exit when they closed the slip road.

“We were about five cars from the front of the queue on the westbound carriage and waited about 40 minutes until the road was reopened.