Motorway cleared after seven hours of disruption

The M6 near Preston was flowing freely again this morning after a wagon fire which took seven hours to clear.
Six fire engines were used to extinguish the blazeSix fire engines were used to extinguish the blaze
Six fire engines were used to extinguish the blaze

The blaze broke out at around 7.30pm last night as the articulated lorry travelled north on the motorway near to junction 31 at Samlesbury.

It took firefighters more than an hour to bring the blaze under control on the hard shoulder.

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Police shut the northbound carriageway completely to allow crews to tackle the fire, causing severe delays stretching down the M6 and also having a knock-on effect for traffic on the M61.

But recovery work and a clean up operation carried on into the early hours of today, with the scene not being completely cleared until around 2.30am.

A fire brigade spokesman said: “The fire got into the trailer and so we had to empty the contents to make sure it was out.”

No-one was hurt in the incident.

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