EAST Lancashire’s roads grounded to a halt yesterday after more motorway misery.

Crashes on the M65 and the M6 caused severe delays on eastbound routes into Blackburn and Burnley.

Safety groups and politicians have called on drivers to exercise greater caution after a spate of collisions on Lancashire’s roads in the last week.

The latest incidents mean there have been five crashes in five days on the M65 and M6.

Sergeant Mick Young, from Lancashire’s road policing unit, said yesterday morning’s event caused ‘a host of problems’.

The first involved a 4x4 vehicle and an over-turned trailer on the southbound carriageway of the M6 shortly before 7.25am, at junction 31 for Samlesbury.

Three lanes were closed after that crash, but traffic problems got even worse after three heavy goods vehicles collided on the M65 around 90 minutes later.

The second crash, between junction one of the M65 and junction two at Clayton Brook, saw all three eastbound lanes closed at 9am.

Major delays ensued back onto the M61 and into Preston, making East Lancashire practically inaccessible for commuters passing through the centre of the county for almost four hours.

Both motorways were fully reopened by 1pm and no-one was injured in either crash.

Sgt Young said: “Access was completely blocked going onto the M61 and M65 which caused a host of problems back to the Preston area.

“We had to take a lot of standing traffic back off the motorway which wasn’t ideal, but we did the best we could to get it moving.”

Frustrated motorists got in touch with the Lancashire Telegraph to express their disdain at the number of recent crashes, including Ben Costello, who said: “When isn't there a crash on the M65?”

Lancashire police said it has also recorded collisions on the M65 on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.

On Thursday, there were queues for several miles along the M65 westbound after a collision near the M61 turnoff.

Stuart Howarth, from Shadsworth logistics firm CSH Transport and Forwarding, said: “We’ve learned to expect accidents.

“One minute the motorways are open, the next they are not. I don’t think there’s anything we can do. We just adapt so that it doesn’t become a problem, and keep our customers up-to-date.”