MOTORISTS endured a day of delays after a gas canister was found in the wreckage of a pile-up on the M40 that killed a lorry driver.

Two articulated lorries and a van crashed on the southbound stretch of the M40 near junction 10 at Cherwell Valley Services at about 5.40am today.

The driver of one of the lorries, which struck the central reservation barrier, was trapped in his cab and died before he could be rescued.

Fire crews imposed a 200-metre exclusion zone after discovering a potentially explosive oxyacetylene canister left in the van involved in the crash was damaged and had started to heat up inside the vehicle.

Traffic was stopped in both directions between junctions 11 at Banbury and nine at Bicester, causing gridlock on surrounding roads.

The motorway was finally fully reopened at 3pm.

Sgt Peter Jell, of roads policing, said it was a challenging day for the emergency services. He added: “Two lorries and a van were involved and one of the drivers was trapped in his cab and died before he could be released.

“That in itself would mean a long complicated closure and investigation because of the sheer logistics.

“But it was complicated by the fact the van was carrying oxyacetylene which began heating up.

“It was initially thought the motorway would need to be closed for 24 hours but fortunately it cooled sufficiently quickly. But it meant two or three hours before we could begin. This caused an enormous amount of problems for traffic in north Oxfordshire. There is only so much you can do when so much traffic is taken off the motorway.”

The lorry driver is believed to be from the West Midlands. His next of kin have been informed, but he has not been named.

Police switched off traffic lights on the A34 junction of the M40 to allow vehicles to move freely, and motorcycle officers were overriding lights on junctions along diversion routes.

Queues were reported to be more than a mile long on the A34 and slow on the B4100 from Bicester.

Both Banbury Road and Oxford Road, in Bicester, were at a standstill for large parts of the morning.

Stagecoach laid on shuttle buses to get stranded people from villages into Bicester town centre.

Firefighter Nigel Wilson, in charge of the clear-up, said 30 firefighters were at the scene and water and an infa-red thermometer were used to make sure the canister did not explode.

He added: “We cooled and monitored the canister until it showed signs of cooling down.

“With acetylene you never really know what will happen. We have procedures for these incidents, because it is dangerous, which include a 200-metre exclusion zone which is the biggest problem, because when you do that on a motorway you are taking out six lanes.”

Motorist Heather Mason, of Banbury said: “It took 45 minutes to get just six miles.

“One colleague left Abingdon at 7.30am and didn’t get here until 10am. It was awful.”

Anyone who saw the crash should call police on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers on 08458 505505.