A LORRY fire brought chaos to the M62 above Huddersfield.

A lorry loaded with steel and going from Scunthorpe to Bolton had just passed Scammonden Dam at 9.40am yesterday when the driver realised his cab was on fire.

He pulled on to the hard shoulder just before the Ripponden turn-off at Junction 22 and escaped as the fire swept through the cab.

Sub-officer Simon Dennett, of Huddersfield fire station, said: "The cab was engulfed in flames when we arrived.

"The top of the diesel fuel tank had melted and we could see the fuel burning inside. We had to douse it with foam.

"The engine oil seeped from the cab across all three carriageways and the police had to close the motorway until the road surface could be gritted."

He added: "Fire crews were sent from Huddersfield, Slaithwaite and Greater Manchester.

"We needed all the water from three engines to put the fire out."

Traffic jammed solid and tailed back several miles to Brighouse.

Traffic started to be allowed past the scene at 12.30pm.

When the Huddersfield crew was travelling back on the eastbound carriageway they came across a crash involving a car and a lorry, near the farm in the middle of the motorway.

A Nissan car was badly damaged and its front end was hanging over a ditch.

Firefighters gave a woman first aid until paramedics arrived.

She suffered neck and back injuries.