COMMUTERS faced rush-hour chaos today after a three-car smash left an elderly woman seriously hurt and blocked the M6 heading towards Birmingham.
Police were forced to close the northbound carriageway between Junction 4 Coleshill and Junction 4a at the M42 interchange following the crash at about 6.15am.
West Midlands Police said a Renault Megane, a Mercedes saloon and a HGV were involved in the collision.
The Megane had over-turned trapping the driver and passenger inside the vehicle.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said an 80-year-old woman rescued from the car had been taken to Selly Oak Hospital with serious head and arm injuries.
Motorists were left fuming in the rising temperatures as the motorway remained closed while police crash scene investigators worked at the scene.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “When crew arrived they found one car on its roof, a second car with front end damage and an HGV which had stopped nearby.
“The elderly woman in the overturned car was trapped for around 40 minutes. The man in car was also trapped. However, once the door was opened by firefighters he was able to get out of the vehicle himself.
Drivers were being diverted along the southbound M42 and Highways Agency traffic officers tried to reduce the jams that stretched back to the M6 Toll.
The crash, which happened in a section of roadworks also forced the closure of the entry slip-road at junction 4.
Traffic coming along the 42 was also prevented from turning onto the northbound M6.
The Highways Agency warned that normal traffic conditions were not expected to return until nearer lunchtime.
