M54 partially closed after hay lorry catches fire

The M54 remains partially closed in Shropshire after a lorry transporting about 70 tonnes of hay caught fire.

The motorway's westbound carriageway was shut between junctions three for Albrighton and four for Telford when the blaze broke out on Tuesday evening.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said six fire engines were deployed to the incident shortly before 18:30 BST and the blaze was extinguished.

National Highways said said the road remained partially closed but one lane had reopened on Wednesday morning.

National Highways added that about 45 minutes and four miles of congestion had been reported on the approach.

Travel monitoring system Inrix reported at about 06:30 that traffic had started queuing on the carriageway.

Tony Phipps, from National Highways, said the remaining closure of one lane was to allow for repairs to the carriageway and barrier.

"The barrier was actually melted, the blaze was that fierce," he said.

Putting the fire out took from Tuesday evening into Wednesday as fire crews had to remove all the load from the lorry to check for hot spots, Phipps added.

Resurfacing of the road will take place overnight on Wednesday, to be finished in time for rush hour on Thursday morning.

The cause was still not known, Phipps added, but said they have seen an increase in vehicle fires due to the hot weather.

"Unfortunately that can lead to verge fires," he said.

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