Lorry flips over in M65 crash chaos

2:49pm Monday 31st March 2008

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DRIVERS experienced long motorway delays after a three-vehicle crash ended up with a lorry knocked onto its side in the rush hour.

The accident on the M65, between junction 10 at Burnley and junction nine at Hapton, saw a collision between a lorry and two cars at around 8.50am this morning.

The lorry, from Pendle Frozen Foods, was knocked over and blocked all three lanes of the westbound carriageway towards Blackburn.

Police said that none of the people in the vehicles were seriously injured but the road was partially closed for three hours while the scene was cleared and made safe.

Police said investigations are taking place to discover what led to the crash, which caused a fire to start in the cab of the lorry.

One line of investigation is that a car clipped the lorry from behind, causing it to topple over.

The lorry was carrying frozen food at the time of the accident.

A Toyota Corolla and a Peugeot 306 were involved in the smash along with the Pendle Frozen Foods lorry.

A police spokesman said: "Most of the casualties were treated for their injuries at the scene, although the driver of the Toyota was taken to hospital as a precaution suffering from whiplash."

Police said the driver of the Toyota was a Nelson man and the Peugeot driver was from Barnoldswick.

Neil Sterio, from the Highways Agency, said the road re-opened at around noon after being shut since 9am.

He said that time was needed to right the vehicle and clear the road.

Mr Sterio said: "There were no serious injuries and no damage to the carriageway.

"The police closed the motorway straight after the accident and we were able to make sure that the road was clear before it was re-opened again."

Motorists experienced serious traffic delays around the accident, through Burnley, Hapton and Accrington, as a result of the crash.