THOUSANDS of drivers were left fuming in their vehicles in more M62 misery last night.

A crash brought huge tailbacks on the busy motorway – and caused massive traffic jams on many feeder roads.

And the accident near Chain Bar came only hours after more mayhem, when a lorry crashed and overturned at Outlane.

The earlier accident had seen part of the eastbound lanes closed for five hours.

But the problems worsened last night when two lorries and a van crashed between Junction 26 Chain Bar and Junction 27 at Gildersome, forcing the carriageway to be closed completely.

It was shut from 2.30pm until shortly before 6pm and saw jams stretching back seven miles past Ainley Top.

Thousands of motorists were stranded in the closed section between the two junctions.

Police tried to divert traffic off the M62 at Chain Bar but that meant added problems on a network of main roads.

There were huge queues on roads including:

The A62 Leeds Road through Huddersfield and Cooper Bridge

The A644 Huddersfield Road through Mirfield

The A629 Calderdale Way through Elland

The A58 Halifax Road through Brighouse and Wyke.

There were also long queues on side roads such as Bradford Road, Huddersfield, and Huddersfield Road, Brighouse.

No-one was seriously injured in the Chain Bar crash but a driver in his 30s was taken to Leeds General Infirmary to be checked over.

Further disruption was caused to the westbound carriageway which was forced to temporarily close two lanes to allow emergency services to access the scene.

At least one of the lorries was reported to be leaking diesel and fire crews from Morley, Odsal and Cleckheaton were called to the scene.

In a separate incident at Junction 23 at Outlane a tree in the carriageway at 4pm also caused long delays.

And a broken down vehicle near Junction 26 on the westbound stretch also snarled traffic with delays back to Junction 30 (Rothwell).

Earlier in the day, a driver escaped with minor injuries after his lorry overturned on the M62.

But the accident caused chaos for thousands of early-morning commuters yesterday.

The HGV is believed to have lost a wheel and overturned, spinning round to face oncoming traffic in the outside lane.

The accident happened at 4.45am on the eastbound carriageway just before Junction 23 at Outlane, Huddersfield.

Two lanes of the motorway were closed while recovery got underway.

Tailbacks built up beyond Junction 22 at Rishworth Moor.

In the immediate aftermath, with traffic solid, some drivers got out of their cars to stretch their legs.

Drivers on the opposite carriageway slowed down to look, causing more delays.

Watch commander Andy Marshall, of Elland Fire Station, said the drama was captured on motorway cameras.

“It appears the lorry lost a wheel and overturned, landing on its side facing oncoming traffic,” he said.

Mr Marshall said the driver escaped the vehicle himself, kicking out the windscreen. He was treated for a bruised leg.

Police were already on the scene when fire crews arrived. Firefighters made sure the vehicle was safe before recovery took place.

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said: “The crash scene was sealed by police as they needed to do proper accident investigations.

“That meant that the recovery work of the overturned vehicle had to be done very carefully so as not to cause any further damage to the vehicle or to the scene.

“There were inevitably long delays for drivers who were caught up in the tailbacks from the scene”.

Yesterday’s accidents came after a black month in November, when the motorway was closed at least 10 times because of accidents on the stretch through Huddersfield and Brighouse.

Drivers could face further delays this morning, following sub-zero temperatures overnight and light snow forecast until noon today.