A lorry shed its load of chickens and turkeys across this Yorkshire motorway - and chaos ensued

The lorry was transporting the chicken carcasses along the M62 when the incident happened at the Gildersome/Birstall junction.

There were seven miles of delays after the dramatic food spill on the carriageway.

Highways England confirmed that it happened westbound between the entry slip and main carriageway.

It caused delays for drivers.

In a statement on Twitter, Highways England said: "M62 J27 Gildersome westbound. Between the entry slip and the main carriageway. Shed load of dead turkeys and chickens.

"This is causing delays at the moment. Traffic Officers on scene. WYP Roads Policing Unit on scene. Updates to follow."

They also responded to a Twitter user who contacted them to complain about the smell, saying "it stinks."

As you can see from the images, the dead chickens were strewn across the motorway.

Some of the carcasses fell into the inner lanes as well as the entry slip road.

Police traffic officers spent the entire day on Thursday on the scene trying to clear the dead carcasses.

A traffic officer for the WYP Roads Policing Unit, known as Traffic Dave, shared the news on his Twitter account.

On a statement on Twitter he said: "M62 Westbound J27. Congestion. Lorry load of dead chickens on the entry slip and lanes 1 & 2."