QUEUES of early morning traffic built up on the A49 outside Ludlow after a fire involving a lorry transporting timber.

Fire crews from Ludlow and Craven Arms attended the fire at just before 7am on Tuesday.

Breathing apparatus, water jets and a thermal imaging camera were used to tackle the blaze that started in the unit pulling the trailer of wood.

However, the flames did not set the cargo on fire.

It happened between the B4365 turn to Ludlow racecourse and the B4361 Bromfield Road.

The disruption to traffic was made worse by a local diversion.

As well as the fire services, police and ambulance were called to the fire but there were no reports of any injuries.

The ‘tractor unit’ of the lorry was extensively damaged.

Eventually, the damaged lorry was moved and traffic was able to flow again but not before people had seen their journeys delayed.

As the load of timber was transferred onto another lorry, fire fighters used the thermal imaging camera to check for any hot stops that might potentially have caused a second blaze.