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MOTORISTS endured hours of traffic misery around the Catthorpe Interchange on Monday afternoon when a lorry carrying tonnes of PVC granules toppled over at a roundabout.

The accident happened shortly before 2pm at the roundabout near Swinford and caused several miles of traffic to build on surrounding roads.

The lorry, belonging to a South Yorkshire haulage firm, also shed some of its load of PVC granules onto the road.

The accident closed one lane of the roundabout for several hours and traffic was slowed to navigate around the accident scene.

Firefighters from Lutterworth were called to the scene but no-one was trapped inside the vehicle, although the cabin of the lorry was badly damaged. They made sure the lorry was safe and left the scene in the hands of officers from the Highways Agency and a recovery firm.

A spokesman for Leicestershire Police said: “The incident was handed over to the Highways Agency and the fire service was called.”

4 Work on replacing the Catthorpe Viaduct means there will be a number of overnight closures on the M6 southbound near the interchange in the next few days.

M6 traffic heading towards the M1 southbound will be diverted from M6 junction 1 onto the A426 northbound, then onto the A5 southbound to join the M1 southbound at junction 18.

The Highways Agency says the closures are necessary for the installation of new lighting columns on the new Catthorpe Viaduct, which opened at the end of 2011.

Full closures of the M6 southbound will take place overnight between tomorrow (Friday) and Tuesday, February 7, except Sunday. The road will be closed from 10pm on Friday to 8am the next morning, 8pm on Saturday to 8am the next morning, 9pm on Monday to 6am the following morning and 9pm on Tuesday until 6am on Wednesday.

Source: Harlborough Mail