Two lanes have now been closed causing slow-moving traffic on the motorway currently.
A Highways England spokesman said: “M6 southbound J17 to J16, 2 lanes remain closed following a collision involving a car and a lorry.
“The recovery operation is now under-way however is likely to last well into the morning.
“Further inspections/repairs will then need to be made to the barrier.”
Such are the delays caused by the incident this morning that there are reports of four miles of queues.
Traffic data company, Inrix reported lorry and a car were involved in an accident on the southbound carriageway between Junction 17 and 16.
The incident occurred at 2.15am this morning.
Highways England has reported traffic will not return to normal conditions until 2.15pm today.
There have been no further reports from Highways England as of yet.
However, a further travel alert has been issued southbound between junction 19 and 18.
Two of the four lanes have now been closed between the Tabley Interchange and Middlewich and Holmes Chapel.
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