A SERIES of incidents on the M62 caused big problems on Huddersfield’s roads.

Traffic built up on major routes around town after the police closed the motorway near Cleckheaton for almost an hour.

The eastbound closure came at 1.15pm after a car crashed into the central reservation on that carriageway at junction 26 at Chain Bar.

A woman was cut free from the car by firefighters from Cleckheaton and Odsal. She was taken to hospital with leg injuries, which were not thought to be life-threatening.

The incident caused a 16-mile tailback to junction 22 at Rishworth Moor.

The eastbound carriageway was completely closed until just after 2pm, when one lane was opened. There were also long queues in the opposite direction.

Drivers trying to escape the jam caused roads around north Huddersfield to grind to a halt.

Roads affected included the A629 at Ainley Top, the A6107 through Fixby and Bradley and the A644 through Cooper Bridge.

The A62 to Leeds was badly hit with delays of up to an hour and the A58 through Calderdale also snarled up as drivers tried to dodge the lengthy M62 queue.

All lanes were re-opened by about 3pm, but commuters were then hit by further delays later in the afternoon after one lane was blocked between junction 22 and 23 because of a breakdown.

The jams affected Huddersfield Town player Jack Hunt, who tweeted his frustration on the Twitter website. He said: “This traffic is ridiculous!!”

Meanwhile, moderate delays are expected on the M62 between Junction 25 at Brighouse and Junction 30 at Rothwell due to gantry and drainage work.

The Highways Agency has warned there will be various lane closures and slip road closures between 8pm and 6am and narrow lanes and a 50 mph speed restriction until 2013.

The High Occupancy Vehicle lane at Junction 26 at Chain Bar will be closed over 24 hours and is scheduled to open at 6am on 27 July.

The east and westbound carriageways between Junction 26 and Junction 27 at Gildersome will be closed from 8pm tomorrow until 8am on Sunday.

A signed diversion route will operate via the local road network.

Resurfacing work between Junction 22 at Rishworth Moor and Junction 23 at Outlane is also expected to cause minor night-time delays.

Two lanes westbound and the westbound entry slip road at Junction 23 will be closed from 9pm on Monday until 6am on Tuesday, with a signed diversion route via the A643 and A629 to the entry slip road at Junction 24 at Ainley Top.

There will be hard shoulder running westbound from 9pm on Tuesday until 6am on Wednesday.

One lane westbound will be open from 9pm on Friday until 6am on Saturday.