Two cows had to be helped by lorry drivers after they fell off a truck in the middle of the M6.

The incident near Walsall forced the closure of one of Britain’s busiest stretches of motorway on Tuesday and caused chaos for motorists for nearly two hours.

Police said the cows, which fell from a damaged transport truck, were found two miles apart in live lanes of traffic, while lorry drivers had to stop to help contain them.

It caused three-mile-long queues of traffic between junctions 8 and 10, which were closed in both directions as the injured animals were moved to safety.

Both carriageways reopened at 11.45am but delays were still up to an hour long, according to National Highways.

On Tuesday morning, Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) said on Twitter: