A meat lorry overturned on a junction of the M3, causing a traffic nightmare for commuters on Wednesday morning.

The 20-tonne articulated ERF lorry, carrying 10 tonnes of meat, tipped over on the southbound slip-road of Junction 4 on the M3 at 3.32am, Hampshire police said.

The stricken blue and white lorry was said to be “causing chaos” for the rush hour traffic, after police shut off the Farnborough Gate exit of the A331 Blackwater Valley Road.

The 46-year-old male lorry driver suffered a cut on his arm but the injury was not described as serious.

Mark McAllister was part of the recovery team called to the scene by Surrey police.

"It was particularly tricky as the hanging meat can cause the [vehicle] to want to roll back over the other way if it is not restrained correctly," said Mr McAllister.

"We also had some issues with the integrity of the side of the trailer as all the meat had heaped up down one end and therefore made it very heavy in a small compact area."

Police said the motorway itself was not affected by any road closures.