RUSH-hour commuters were stuck on the M5 for up to an hour-and-a-half when an overturned lorry caused tailbacks stretching 15 miles yesterday.

Some drivers waited patiently for the road to be cleared while others tried to find alternative routes, causing traffic jams around Droitwich and Bromsgrove.

The lorry turned over on the southbound carriageway between junction five, Droitwich and six, Worcester north, just before 3am on Monday.

The vehicle, which was carrying up to 40 tonnes of paper, had mounted the kerb before its trailer slid down the embankment. The cab unit remained on the hard shoulder and the driver was not hurt.

Both Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service and the West Midlands Ambulance Service were called to the scene, but were not needed.

The Highways Agency initially closed only lane one at 5am to remove the lorry. It got it upright at about 7.30am but then the fuel tank spilt, forcing the agency to close lane two as well.

A spokeswoman said: "It meant we could not complete the exercise of recovery as planned. We realised there might have been an impact on the rush-hour traffic."

The road was eventually reopened at 8.20am and by 9.45am the traffic had returned to normal.

Worcester News reporter Tom Edwards said it took two hours to travel from his home in West Bromwich to the city, a commute that normally takes him 45 minutes.

He said: "It was the worst traffic I have ever seen on the M5 in 15 months of using it."

Elsewhere, six cars were involved in an collision on the notorious A449.

The accident happened just before 9am today, on the M5 link road, near the junction with the Hindlip Hall police headquarters.

A spokesman for Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said a driver was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital but did not have life-threatending injuries.

"It would have added to the the traffic problems caused by the overturned lorry on the M5," he added.