Eleven other motorists were injured in the pile-up between junctions nine and 10 of the motorway near Walsall in the West Midlands.

Police say the accident happened on the southbound carriageway when a lorry jackknifed early on Tuesday morning.

A West Midlands Police spokesman said nine heavy good vehicles and 14 cars were involved in the collision.

Two people suffered serious injuries, nine were treated at hospital for minor injuries and six were attended to at the scene by paramedics, she added.

Head and neck injuries

One of those seriously injured was a woman in her 40s who is being treated for head and neck injuries at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.

Six fire engines, eight ambulances and eight police vehicles attended the scene. Police say disruption was "minimal" because of the time the accident happened.

The southbound carriageway was completely shut for five hours and re-opened shortly after 0500 GMT on Tuesday.

In a separate accident in Leicestershire, one man died when five cars collided on the M1 near Ratby, just after midnight on Tuesday.

The northbound carriageway was closed between junctions 21a and 22 and diversions were put in place, a spokesman for Leicestershire Police said.