TRAFFIC ground to a halt on the town's roads on Friday after a refrigeration lorry jack-knifed on Thelwall Viaduct.

Just after 6am, emergency services were called to the southbound carriageway of the M6 to rescue the articulated wagon. It had smashed through the safety barriers and was hanging over the gap between the two bridges.

The lorry driver escaped unhurt, but the female driver of a Peugeot car which was also involved in the crash was taken to Warrington Hospital for treatment for a minor head injury.

Firefighters made the vehicles safe, before mechanics arrived to clear the carriageway.

The accident caused tailbacks across Cheshire on the M6, M56 and M62. The northbound carriageway of the M6 was affected as motorists slowed down to look at the accident.

A police spokesman said: "At first, all four lanes on the southbound carriageway were closed and traffic was restricted to using the hard shoulder.

"This caused terrible congestion into mid Cheshire. Greater Manchester police reported a number of small accidents in the tailbacks and several vehicles had broken down after being stuck in the traffic."

The traffic queues spread throughout the town, with motorists reporting that their journey times were doubled.

The lorry was finally towed away at 10.30am, though the fourth lane of the motorway remained closed for barrier repairs.

A giant crane lifts the stranded lorry back on to Thelwall Viaduct Picture: MIKE BODEN

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.