Cows rescued by lorry drivers after falling off a truck on the M6
Two cows had to be helped by lorry drivers after they fell off a truck in the middle of the M6.
The incident near Walsall forced the closure of one of Britain’s busiest stretches of motorway on Tuesday and caused chaos for motorists for nearly two hours.
Police said the cows, which fell from a damaged transport truck, were found two miles apart in live lanes of traffic, while lorry drivers had to stop to help contain them.
It caused three-mile queues of traffic between junctions eight and 10, which were closed in both directions as the injured animals were moved to safety.
Both carriageways reopened at 11.45am but delays were still up to an hour long, according to National Highways.
On Tuesday morning, Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) said on Twitter:
We have two injuried cows in the carriageway two miles apart that have fallen from a lorry. Both sb and nb closed whilst we try get the injuried cows off the motorway safely. Last thing we want is for them to bolt into moving traffic
— CMPG (@CMPG) August 1, 2023[1]One of the cows fell onto the road between junctions eight and nine at around 10.20am, while the other fell between junctions nine and 10 – two miles apart.
Drivers were warned to avoid the area as the incident was dealt with with the help of police, highway workers and other drivers.
The force added:
Big thank you to the lorry drivers who stopped to help contain the cows as well as @HighwaysWMIDS @Trafficwmp @firearmsWMP. Big thank you to Whitewell Logisitcs Ltd who was in the trapped traffic and offered to help move cows off the carriageway. 5419 pic.twitter.com/9Tm4gU7rXD[2][3][4][5]
— CMPG (@CMPG) August 1, 2023[6]References
- ^ August 1, 2023 (twitter.com)
- ^ @HighwaysWMIDS (twitter.com)
- ^ @Trafficwmp (twitter.com)
- ^ @firearmsWMP (twitter.com)
- ^ pic.twitter.com/9Tm4gU7rXD (t.co)
- ^ August 1, 2023 (twitter.com)