A busy inter-city road had to be closed after a lorry carrying more than 20 tonnes of ketchup crashed, spilling sauce all over the carriageway.

The A580 - known locally as the East Lancs Road - connecting Liverpool to Manchester was shut westbound after the HGV carrying around 22 tonnes of ketchup overturned during the early hours.

Commuters faced long delays during the morning rush hour as emergency workers righted the lorry and cleaned the carriageway.

Greater Manchester Police took to Twitter to post a picture of the incident.

The force tweeted: "The HGV on the w/b East Lancs has been righted we are just cleaning up the ketchup that is all over the road before it can be reopened."

After the clean-up operation the road reopened at around 8.30am.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue said they were called to the scene at 12.07am to assist but the driver had got out of the lorry safely.