Shropshire Star

Rain brings spate of crashes as holiday traffic hits Shropshire roads

There were lengthy delays on the M54 and A5 after a car overturned in one smash.

Published
Last updated
Traffic crawls westbound along the M54 and A5 after a crash

A car overturned in one of a spate of accidents as heavy rain pummelled the roads in Shropshire this evening.

Summer holiday traffic was caught up in long delays on the A5 south of Shrewsbury when a lorry and a car towing a caravan were involved in a collision.

The accident happened at the Preston Roundabout just before 5pm.

About an hour later four or five vehicles were involved in a collision between the roundabout and the M54.

A black BMW overturned in the accident and there were delays of around half an hour as traffic crawled past the scene near Wellington.

North of the county, one person had to be helped from a vehicle after a two car crash at Hengoed near Oswestry at about 4.50pm.

Fire crews were quickly on scene amid fears that people might be trapped. Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said that one person was helped from a vehicle by paramedics.

It comes after the RAC warned congestion on UK roads could reach a peak on Friday as 2.5 million cars making an early dash for a break vied for space with regular commuters.

Motorists were told to expect delays throughout the weekend as almost nine million vehicles embark on the start of the summer getaway.

The RAC predicted that a total of 37 million leisure trips will be made over the first two weeks of the school holidays.

Saturday will be the busiest day of the weekend for UK getaway traffic with 3.4 million journeys being made, while 2.8 million vehicles carrying holidaymakers are expected to be travelling on Sunday.

The worst times to travel were anticipated to be:

  • Friday between 1pm and 8pm

  • Saturday between 11am and 4pm

  • Sunday between 11am and 4pm

The figures are based on analysis of the travel plans of 3,176 motorists.