DRIVERS faced long delays this morning as the emergency services tackled a lorry fire on the M6.

They were called to the scene close to the entry slip road at junction 20 at Lymm at around 7am.

Traffic was stopped northbound and the lorry was moved to the hard shoulder.

Two fire engines from Warrington and one from Stockton Heath attended the scene as firefighters tackled the blaze.

The northbound carriageway remained completely closed for several hours, with delays stretching back to junction 17.

Lanes two, three and four reopened this morning but lane one and the westbound link road from the M56 to the M6 northbound remained closed until 4pm as around 30m of the carriageway was resurfaced following severe fire damage.

Motorists on the southbound carriageway were also urged to take care as smoke travelled over from the lorry.

All lanes have since reopened, with no injuries suffered in the incident.

Highways England operations manager Darron Daulby said: "This was so severe with smoke blowing across that carriageway that at one point we had to close the northbound carriageway, a lane on the southbound carriageway and the link roads from the M56 at Lymm interchange.

"We'd like to thank drivers across the area for their patience while the fire service dealt with the incident."

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