Gas explosion added to severe M6 delays

7pm Update:

The situation on the M6 in Birmingham has eased but Wiggin Street in Ladywood remains closed in both directions following the earlier explosion.

Earlier, there had been severe delays on the M6 southbound near Birmingham following an accident.

The incident happened on the stretch of motorway between Spaghetti Junction (J6) and Junction 5 at Castle Bromwich.

The situation had a knock-on effect for traffic heading out of Birmingham along the A38 Aston Expressway and back into the city centre.

Problems in Birmingham have also been impacted a serious gas explosion at Wiggin Street in Ladywood.

Wiggin Street is currently closed between Icknield Port Road and Northbrook Street.

Three properties have been affected by the incident. 

A man was taken to hospital from the house where the incident happened. A couple from another house are unable to return to their home for the time being, as is a woman from the third property. 

It is a suspected gas explosion, although this has yet to be confirmed.

Station Commander Dave Janes, the incident commander, said: “There was a significant fire in a rear single storey part of the building, but we’ve yet to establish the precise order of events. We had to very mindful of how much water we used because of the building’s instability.

“Gas and electricity have been isolated and, from around 3pm, our resources at the scene will be scaled down to one fire engine and five firefighters.

“However, we expect to be at the scene for several more hours, and will be taking a decision in due course as to whether operations will be able to continue after dark.”