Pedestrians play football during M5 lorry fire closure

Motorists who were stuck on the M5 on Friday in four mile long queues abandoned their cars – to play a game of football on the carriageway.

A lorry carrying potentially hazardous chemicals caught fire, shutting the Somerset section between junction 22, at Burnham-on-Sea, and junction 23, from 9.30am.

Fed up drivers – who are still stuck – got out their cars for a kick at about at around 12.30pm, while they waited for the road to reopen. It was not until 2am on Saturday that the road fully opened after a day of chaos.