M4 Motorway closed as huge blaze cause chaos

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

M4 Motorway remains closed on the westbound carriageway at Junction 17 Chippenham for recovery work to be carried out. The lorry fire caused delays near the town last night as emergency repairs on the Prince of Wales crossing also led to queues.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Rescue Service tweeted on Tuesday that the fire is now out and fire crews have left the scene, adding that the M4 will reopen fully as soon as it is safe to do.

Traffic service Inrix states that M4 Westbound exit slip road closed, two lanes closed due to recovery work and earlier lorry fire at J17 A350 (Chippenham). Traffic is coping well.

Lanes one and two (of three) remain closed, which means the exit slip road is inaccessible. The motorway had been fully closed since Monday afternoon after the fire.

National Highways stated that a section of the eastbound M4 remained closed overnight as emergency repairs were made to the Prince of Wales Bridge.

Traffic was diverted off the M4 at J22 before rejoining shortly after. The M48 Severn Bridge eastbound was meant to close between 9pm on Monday and 6am on Tuesday, but that was cancelled due to the ongoing repairs to the Prince of Wales Bridge.

Highways England tweeted that the #M4 eastbound within J22 is closed due to a damaged bridge joint. Traffic is being diverted via the exit and entry slip road. You may wish to use the #M48 as an alternative route. Please allow extra time for your journey. Thank you for your patience.

The emergency services managed to release vehicles stuck in tailbacks around Chippenham after midnight. It came after Wiltshire police warned motorists not to drive past the scene filming on their phones.

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