A LORRY fire and "explosions" caused chaos for motorists on the A63.
Four fire engines rushed to the scene after the lorry caught fire between the Hessle and Brighton Street junctions at about 8am yesterday.
Police closed the eastbound carriageway for more than eight hours as recovery operations got under way and motorists queued for hours.
Residents reported hearing five explosions and saw large plumes of smoke.
The lorry, which was carrying about 24 tonnes of compacted recycling material, had pulled over to the side of the road and tow trucks arrived at the scene at about 9am.
Inspector John Lawson, of Humberside Police, said: "The recycling lorry set on fire and the explosions heard were due to the tyres exploding because of the heat.
"The firefighters had the blaze under control. There were concerns due to the paper recycling material it is carrying."
Police expected the disruption to last for an hour but debris on the road meant it did not reopen until after 4.30pm.
Motorist Christopher Gilchrist, 63, said it took him an hour to get from Ferriby to Hessle because of the delays.
He said: "I got to Hessle and saw HGVs trying to get down small streets with cars either side of the road.
"I was surprised they were even allowed down there, it's so dangerous for residents.
"I saw a mother carrying her baby out of a car and a lorry's wing-mirror passed over her head by inches."
East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS) put on extra buses to deal with the delays.
The X55 and X56 buses were delayed by up to half an hour and an extra X56 ran at 10.20am to swap passengers and keep things moving.
Clare Robinson, marketing manager at EYMS, said: "It's been difficult for our depot supervisors but they've been doing a good job.
"It affected our express buses, which run between Goole and Hull via the A63, their name suggests they are supposed to be quick but they've been delayed by up to half an hour because of the fire.
"We've put on extra buses to catch up and have kept our passengers informed on Twitter."
EYMS tweeted: "There's heavy traffic in Hessle Road, Anlaby Road, Spring Bank, Willerby Road and Calvert Lane as the A63 is still closed, causing delays for west Hull buses."
PC Keith Ward was at the scene for a number of hours.
Nobody was injured and he said the delay was due to the amount of debris on the road.
He said: "Transwaste transferred smoking bales of paper to a skip and were working across both lanes of the eastbound carriageway from the lay-by."
