A driver was airlifted to hospital following an accident on the M62.

He was hurt in a crash which which caused traffic chaos for Huddersfield commuters.

The incident occurred between junction 21 for Milnrow and junction 22 for Rishworth Moor on the eastbound carriageway of the busy motorway this morning.

It happened at 6.50am when a road sweeping wagon and a lorry collided.

Firefighters helped free one of the drivers who was trapped inside the vehicle before he was airlifted to hospital.

The helicopter landed on the carriageway. It is understood his injuries are serious but not life-threatening.

Highways England said it was a “serious collision” and emergency services raced to the scene including officers from West Yorkshire Police and Greater Manchester Police.

Traffic queuing on M62
Traffic queuing on M62

Motorists were urged to avoid the eastbound M62 from Greater Manchester into West Yorkshire with three lanes closed for more than three hours following the crash.

Drivers were asked to find alternative routes or delay their journeys altogether.

At its peak traffic stretched all the way back to junction 18, some 12 miles away from the scene of the crash.

Lorry crash on M62
Lorry crash on M62

The problems were made worse because of a huge mill fire in Delph late on Tuesday, which forced police to close many roads in the area.

That includued stretches of the A62 Oldham to Huddersfield road, which is used an alternative to the M62.

A police incident investigation to ascertain what happened took several hours with recovery and repair work following that.

All lanes were re-opened at 11am.