What has happened on the M62 as incident sparks two HOURS of rush-hour tailbacks

Travellers are facing delays over two hours this evening after a car towing a trailer overturned on the M62. It happened on the Eastbound stretch, heading from Greater Manchester towards Yorkshire, between junction 22, for Rishworth Moor, and junction 23 for Huddersfield, shortly after midday today (Wednesday).

The car and trailer were the only vehicle involved in the collision, being left on its side afterwards. Thankfully no one has been injured.

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police has told the Manchester Evening News that the crash, which happened at 12:11pm today, was "damage only." Greater Manchester Police also confirmed no one had been injured.

READ MORE: M62 LIVE: Huge queues build as traffic stopped amid crash

Two lanes were closed as emergency services dealt with the aftermath, and recovery was arranged. Long delays quickly began to form in the area, with queues stretching back over 10 miles and delays more than two hours.

Traffic was also said to be very slow on the opposite carriageway due to drivers slowing down to look at what had happened. Whilst neighbouring routes were also jammed up with cars trying to avoid the gridlock, with Stagecoach saying some of their services in Oldham are running around half an hour behind schedule.

The vehicle has now been recovered and the crash has cleared, according to National Highways. However, there continue to be "severe delays" stretching back nearly 10 miles to junction 18, Simister Island, as the tailbacks that built up clear.

In an update at 3:45pm, they said: "All lanes are now open on the #M62 eastbound J22-J23 near #Rochdale. The earlier incident involving an overturned car towing a trailer has been cleared Delays of 120 minutes above normal remain on the approach - 10 miles of congestion, almost back to J18 #Simister."