ANGRY drivers faced gridlock misery as they were stuck for up to 10 hours in traffic jams on the the M5 caused by a broken-down crane.

All lanes of the northbound M5 were closed yesterday (Friday) between junctions 5 (Droitwich) and 4A (Birmingham/Redditch) but many other major routes in and out of Worcester also ground to a halt in the infuriating tailbacks.

Among those stuck in the jam were a pregnant woman desperate for the toilet and 70 children on a school trip to Birmingham.

Worcester's MP Robin Walker said he had spoken to Highways England to make sure lessons had been learned so it does not happen again.

He will also be raising the issue with the Department of Transport.

One man was stuck for six hours between junction 6 (Worcester) and junction 5 (Droitwich).

Highways England said: “Sometimes, things happen which no one can foresee."

The situation went from bad to worse when Highways England reported that a crane which was needed to lift the overhead gantry out of position had broken down and was unable to complete the job.

The roadworks were supposed to be finished at 6am yesterday (Friday) but continued until between 2.15pm and 2.30pm.

Specialist equipment had to be sent out to complete the gantry lift before the carriageway could reopen.

The northbound motorway started to re-open at about 4pm and was fully re-opened by 5.30pm.

Highways England scrapped full carriageway closures planned for yesterday (Friday) evening and has pledged that no further full overnight closures will take place "until the matter has been fully investigated".

Colin Lowther, Highways England operations manager, said: “We’re very sorry for the disruption drivers have experienced today.

“We have been working hard all day to reopen this section of the M5. Safety comes first, and we had to carry out the complex operation of removing the gantry from the carriageway before we could reopen it.”

During the problems the northbound entry slip road at junction 6 was also closed. The southbound carriageway remained open, but with a lane 3 closure.

Drivers complained of having no water and some said they had to relieve themselves in whatever containers they could find.

Traffic began to build between junctions five (Droitwich) and six (Worcester) yesterday morning but the ensuing chaos spread out to other major roads, including the A449 where there were reports of queues running back from junction 6 of the M5 to the Mitre Oak in Hartlebury.

Drivers also experienced delays on the A4440 Warndon Way and the A4538 Pershore Lane (Worcester).

Highways England said the delays were 100 minutes but some drivers complained of being stuck for more than six hours as motorists took to Twitter to vent their frustration about the tailbacks.

Les Ames said via Twitter: "Someone really needs to take responsibility for the mess on the M5. But I suspect no one will be man enough as ever!"

Chris Newman blasted Highways England on Twitter: "Will you now be issuing water to those who have been stuck between M5 6-5 Northbound for four hours?"

Zoe Crosby wrote on Twitter: "I have been sat here since 6.30am moved three miles since, heavily pregnant and in need of a wee!!! Absolute joke!!"

One driver on the A449 heading between Stourbridge and Worcester described the road as being like a 'car park' and said it was 'the worst he had ever seen it'.

Tim Grazier said: "2 hours 45 minutes to get from Malvern to Halesowen, normally 40 minute journey. How can they get it so wrong?"

One reader described the situation as "chaos".

The Central Motorway Police Group was also affected and said "please don't shoot the messenger" as they warned the public about the delays.

During the delays, Highways England operations manager Sioux Hine assured drivers: “We can understand the frustration this has caused this morning, and it’s frustrating for us, too. We always try and carefully plan our overnight work to avoid this kind of disruption, and we’d like to apologise for the inconvenience.

“Sometimes, things happen which no one can foresee, but we are doing all we can now to try and reopen this section of the motorway."