Thousands of motorists were stuck in five-mile tailbacks at both the morning and evening rush hour yesterday after a freak accident brought chaos to one of Britain's busiest roads.

The rear of a tipper truck became wedged under an gantry, which spans all three lanes of the northbound carriageway on the M80. The road is the main route between Glasgow and Stirling and also provides a major link to Fife, via the Kincardine Bridge.

The incident caused major tailbacks during the morning rush hour and even greater problems during the evening as many fans going to the Uefa Cup match between Rangers and Hapoel Tel Aviv were caught up in the delays.

The accident occurred between Haggs at junction four and Bankhead at junction five early yesterday when the truck ran into the overhead gantry and part of it became embedded. The truck driver and the male elderly driver of a Vauxhall Corsa which was in collision with the back of the tipper truck escaped injury.

Traffic was diverted on to the A803 as cranes were transported to the site to recover the vehicle and to make safe the gantry. At one stage in the afternoon one crane was trying to manoeuvre the rear of the tipper truck to safety while another crane was holding the gantry together to make sure it did not come crashing to the ground.

The delicate operation was completed soon after 7pm. A spokesman for Central Scotland said that the gantry had been dismantled and the trailer taken away by a local garage.

Diversions were in place but motorists suffered severe delays as traffic was tailed back for up to five miles to the A80/M73.

Central Scotland Police last night said the accident happened when the road was quiet but because of the danger caused by the position of the tipper truck they had no alternative but to close the northbound section of the road for most of yesterday.

Traffic heading for Glasgow was busier than usual yesterday morning and the situation was not helped by drivers slowing down as they passed the accident on the other side of the motorway.

A Central Scotland police spokesman said: "We had to wait for engineers to assess the damage to the overhead sign and could not reopen the road until it was safe to do so. Motorists were asked to take alternative routes home including the M8 corridor or via the Erskine Bridge if heading towards Stirling or the north."

Last week drivers were caught up in seven-mile tailbacks when safety fears over pylons closed a three-mile stretch of the M74 on the outskirts of Glasgow.