AN OVERTURNED lorry caused huge traffic queues on the A46 Lincoln bypass when it spilled its load of cardboard all over the carriageway.

Police were called to the southbound section of the road just after the Skellingthorpe roundabout at 6.37am yesterday.

The lorry, owned by a leasing agency in Swindon, shed 25 tonnes of cardboard across the A46, which resulted in the closure of a section of the carriageway and long delays on the northbound section.

Despite the incident, there were no injuries.

Police originally estimated clean-up and recovery would take five hours, and hoped to have traffic flowing normally by 1pm.

But the road was not opened again until about 3.03pm – almost eight and a half hours after the incident was first reported.

Lincolnshire Police spokesman James Newall said diversions had been put in place as soon as possible to help motorists avoid any unnecessary delays.

"Police attended the scene to an overturned lorry where a significant load of cardboard had fallen into the carriageway," he said.

"Unfortunately, this took several hours to clear.

"A limited number of officers were on the scene to facilitate the recovery.

"Diversions were put in place and this obviously caused significant disruptions to traffic flow in the city.

"Lincolnshire Police would like to thank motorists for their patience."

Motorist Michael Green, of Gregg Hall Crescent, Lincoln, said: "I queued for about 20 minutes northbound at about 11.20am.

"When I got to the roundabout the lorry was back on its wheels in a layby on the left and there were about five guys with shovels and a couple of small diggers trying to get piles of cardboard into some skips."

Nicola Scarborough, of Daisy Made Ice Cream in Lincoln Road, Skellingthorpe, said the incident led to a massive increase in traffic through the village.

"I didn't really see the incident happen and only saw the lorry on its side like everyone else," she said.

"It did make the village a lot busier though and there was a lot of traffic going through Skellingthorpe.

"Thankfully, most of the hold-ups were on the Birchwood side of the roundabout and up the bypass itself."

Roger Michie, of Nightingale Crescent in the Birchwood area, said he was caught in the traffic on his way to work at Yarborough Leisure Centre.

"It took me 45 minutes to get from the end of Fulmar Road to Skellingthorpe," he said.

"It was frustrating, but I'd heard about it before I set off, so was expecting it."