A DRIVER escaped unhurt as his lorry cab burst into flames on the M62.
He scrambled clear as flames ripped through the cab of the articulated wagon at Scammonden yesterday afternoon, bringing chaos to the motorway.
Police closed two of the three lanes of the eastbound carriageway to allow fire crews to tackle the blaze and seven-mile traffic jams built up, stretching back towards Milnrow.
These dramatic pictures of the blazing lorry were captured by Examiner reader Joanne Gledhill, who runs the Jack o’Mitre pub at Scammonden with husband Stuart.
The trailer of the vehicle was loaded with 27 tons of sugar and fire crews from Huddersfield and Halifax managed to save it.
Crew Manager Neil Mellor, of Huddersfield, said: “The cab was well alight when we got to the motorway but the driver was okay.
“Police blocked off lanes of the motorway to let us tackle the fire but the cab was burned out.
“Water is always a problem on the M62 as there are no hydrants. Our machines carry 300 gallons each and we were able to stop the fire spreading.
“We believe the fire was caused by an electrical fault”.
The badly-damaged vehicle was recovered late last night.
