Bank holiday motorists faced lengthy delays yesterday as a horrific crash in which four people died forced the closure of a busy stretch of motorway.

Four men died after a car travelling the wrong way down the M6 smashed into another vehicle.

Three of the four, who have not been identified, were travelling in a silver Peugeot 406 when it collided with a silver Ford Fusion near Junction 8 on the southbound carriageway at the interchange with the M5 near Walsall.

The fourth casualty was travelling alone in the Ford which had been heading in the wrong direction.

All four were confirmed dead at the scene shortly after 5.50am yesterday.

A fifth man, who had been travelling in the Peugeot, remains in a serious condition in hospital.

Chief Inspector Bal Sidhu, of the Central Motorway Policing Group, said: “The scene which greeted emergency service workers was absolutely horrific.

“We know one of the vehicles had been travelling the wrong way up the motorway and several cars had managed to avoid it; sadly, the car carrying four men could not.

“You can imagine the force of a crash when two vehicles are travelling in opposite directions and debris was spread over a large section of the carriageway in both directions, which is why we had to close the motorway.”

Chief Insp Sidhu said he could not speculate whether the driver of the Ford was under the influence of drink or drugs or whether he had wanted to commit suicide. He said the cars would be forensically examined.

“Both cars were badly disintegrated and will be taken away for analysis,” he added. “I would like to make it clear to the public that incidents of this nature are very rare and motorways remain the safest roads to travel on. We would urge anyone with information travelling on that stretch of motorway at the time to come forward. They may hold vital information to assist with the inquiry.”

Bank holiday motorists faced lengthy delays yesterday as traffic was diverted onto the M5 and away from the scene for more than seven hours while the road was closed between Junctions 8 and 7.

Vehicles heading north were also diverted for six hours following the two-car crash which happened just before 6am.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said information about the deceased would be released after inquiries had progressed sufficiently.