There are still long delays on the A31 near Ringwood following a van fire this morning.

Thousands of motorists became stuck in tailbacks up to six-miles long and queues are still being reported westbound from J4 of the M27 to Picket Post. 

The westbound carriageway was closed completely for a short time with one lane closed for several hours following the blaze. The lane re-opened around 4.45pm.  

The queues, compounded by the wet conditions and the numbers of drivers slowing down on the eastbound side of the A31 to watch the drama unfold, are still being reported hours after the fire was extinguished.

The road surface has also been damaged and will need repairing, police say.

Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service (HFRS) initially attended the scene around 9.30am.

Shortly after the fire was extinguished a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman told the Echo: "The road has been substantially damaged and will need repairing, delays are expected.

"We would ask drivers on eastbound carriageway to keep moving, paying attention to road ahead, as rubbernecking will cause further problems and delays."

There were no injuries in the incident, which involved a UPS van and no other vehicles, but traffic quickly built up in all directions.

Witnesses said thick, black smoke from the burning van - which was completely destroyed by the blaze - billowed more than 50ft into the air and moved across the carriageway hindering visibility.

One driver caught up in the aftermath told the Echo: "It was ridiculous that the delays stretched back to Ringwood in the opposite direction. This was simply due to people rubbernecking which we all know is dangerous. If everyone just concentrated on where they were going things would not have been half as bad. I'm surprised there weren't more prangs on the other side of the road as everyone was slowing down unnecessarily.

The Highways Agency confirmed there are still 30 minutes delays in the area which are expected to last until at least 2pm. 

HFRS say the cause of the blaze is undetermined, but it is not being treated as suspicious.

The delivery vehicle caught fire around one mile east of Picket Post.

Two fire crews, one from Ringwood fire station and one from Burley, attended, along with Hampshire police.

The HFRS spokesman confirmed: "It was a van on fire on the highway, we used two sets of breathing apparatus and two hose reel jets. It was quite a bad fire, the van was completely destroyed."

Travel Dorset also confirmed one lane of the westbound carriageway was initially closed and that traffic queued for six miles. A knock-on effect of the incident were tailbacks from junction one to junction two on the M27 motorway, which continued into the early afternoon.

Commuters were advised to avoid the area as traffic remained slow on the eastbound side of the A31, mainly due to motorist slowing down to look as the incident unfolded.

Drivers also reported significant delays in both directions on the A338.

Delays were also reported at Roeshot, near Christchurch, and on the A35, throughout the morning.

UPS are unavailable for comment.