VW camper van catches fire and almost brings M62 to standstill

The blaze happened on the westbound lane

A VW camper van on fire on the M62 at junction 29, near Leeds which reduced traffic to a crawl on the major motorway. (Andrew Godfrey/PA Wire)

A VW camper van nearly ground a major motorway near Leeds to a hault, after it caught alight.

The flam-engulfed vehicle reduced westbound tragic on M62 at junction 29 to a crawl, just before the start of the busy rush hour period.

An image of the blaze shows flames tearing through the car’s body, with acrid smoke rising from its room.

The picture was captured by the Press Association’s head of IT services, Andy Godfrey, who was a passenger in a passing car at around 4:30pm on Friday.

He said: “We were crawling by with traffic queuing as the inside two lanes were shut. It's obviously somebody's pride and joy that's gone up in flames.

"The driver was talking to a police officer there. There was a police car - and a fire engine coming up behind ready to put out the flames.“

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said three fire engines went to the scene, from Rothwell, Hunslet and Normanton, and one hose reel was used to put out the blaze.

They had no information on the cause of the fire, except to say it was "not malicious".

Additional reporting by PA