Spilled beer shuts down Hanover motorway

The incident occurred when a cargo lorry from western Germany collided with the back of a traffic jam after the driver failed to notice the truck in front of him braking.

The lorry's cargo of thousands of cans of Paderborn beer then spilled onto the road.

Police and Fire services were engaged in clearing the crash site for hours, meaning the road east towards Berlin was completely closed.

Both lorries sustained thousands of euros worth of damage and the 32-year.old driver of the rear truck had to be taken to hospital.

Police told the Local on Wednesday evening that the motorway was once again open. The spokesperson could not confirm what had happened with the beer cans but said he thought it unlikely that they could be used.