COMMUTERS faced the misery of long delays after a collision on a busy stretch of the M65 yesterday morning.

The emergency services were called to the motorway near junction eight shortly after 7am after two cars were involved in the incident.

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A man was later taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital by the North West Ambulance Service with a minor arm injury.

Tailbacks built up for a number of hours on the westbound carriageway stretching back to junction 12 for Brierfield.

Heavy rain and strong winds also made driving conditions hazardous.

The two cars involved were a light blue Renault and a black BMW.

The other driver did not sustain any injuries, but police confirmed that both vehicles were badly damaged. The traffic flow was also affected on the eastbound carriageway while the recovery operation was taking place.

Before the cars were moved to the hard shoulder two lanes were blocked to traffic, while vehicles were slowly moving in the third lane.

All lanes were reopened by the emergency services shortly after 9am.

Following the incident commuters took to social media to comment on the collision and long delays they were facing.

A spokesman for Axion Engineering, which is based in Altham, posted on Twitter.

He said: “Bad smash on M65 j8 w/bound this morning.

“Poor road conditions and ridiculous driving, slow down, back off. Better late than dead #staysafe.”

Sarah Harwood from Burnley said: “Spent my morning planning a journey to get on the M6 avoiding M65.”

Another driver said: “It was a nightmare and there were a lot of frustrated people waiting in the queue.

“All of the side roads appeared to be congested as well as people tried to avoid the motorway.

“Hopefully the person who was injured was not hurt too badly.

“I really hope that people would take more care in the future when it’s raining.”

The AA said: “Driving in wet conditions can be hazardous and even drivers with local knowledge can be caught out.”