Bradford businesses were left counting the cost after massive delays on the M62 yesterday which led to queues 16 miles long when part of the motorway was closed for nearly five hours.

One haulier estimates he lost £3,000 in business after an accident involving two vans and a motorbike at 5.42am.

Bradford West Respect MP George Galloway is now calling for roadworks on the motorway to be speeded up, saying they are “damaging to the city”.

One man was taken to Leeds General Infirmary with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries after the crash on the eastbound carriageway between junctions 26, Chain Bar, and 27, Gildersome, where a £150 million managed motorway is currently being installed.

The eastbound motorway was closed until 10am between the two junctions while investigators worked at the scene of the crash.

The closure also brought gridlock to the M62’s westbound carriageway. Motorists were being warned of delays of two and a half hours.

Local haulier Thomas Crompton said yet again his business had been forced to cancel jobs because of problems on the M62 and estimated that delays could have cost him £3,000.

He said: “It’s been bad today. It’s cost us a fortune again.”

Bradford Chamber of Commerce president Stephen Wright said: “Many meetings and other events today were cancelled, and that will have an impact on the economy.”

Mr Galloway said he would now ask the Department for Transport to speed up the improvement works to ease the “traffic nightmare”.

Labour MP for Bradford South Gerry Sutcliffe said the situation on the M62 now needed to be under constant review, while Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley, said it struggled along at the best of times, when there wasn’t a problem.

In the year since M62 work began, highways officials have been forced to remove more than 1,500 broken-down vehicles and deal with more than 100 crashes between junction 25 at Brighouse and junction 27.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

e-mail: claire.armstrong@telegraphandargus.co.uk