Truck fire spreads to motorway verge

A fire that engulfed a truck on a motorway spread to vegetation on the side of the road, causing long traffic delays.

Fire crews were called to the westbound M4 between junctions 12 (Reading West) and 13 (Newbury) in Berkshire, National Highways said in a post on X just before 13:00 BST.

Two lanes were closed westbound and traffic was held temporarily due to smoke, it said.

In a later post, the company reported westbound delays of 70 minutes, but said traffic was flowing freely.

Earlier in August, a vehicle fire in Hampshire caused a blaze that devastated 1 sq km (247 acres) of the New Forest.