A HUGE tower crane which was destroyed by a dramatic fire on the M6 cost around £3.5m, its manufacturer has confirmed.

Both carriageways of the M6 between junctions 36 and 39 were closed for a number of hours yesterday when the Ainscough crane set on fire, sending plumes of smoke across the motorway.

The fire was reported at 7.39am and all lanes of the southbound carriageway and two lanes northbound were opened by 12.45pm. The third lane of the northbound carriageway is due to be resurfaced early next week.

The crane, which is capable of lifting 750 tonnes, is made by German firm Liebherr and can reach up to 52 metres in height - higher than the Devonshire Dock Hall at the Barrow shipyard.

Wolfgang Beringer from Liebherr told The Mail: "We can confirm it is a Liebherr mobile crane type LTM 1750-9.1.

"The purchasing price of this model is around four million Euros."

The crane's owner, Ainscough, has not responded to our request for a comment.

Police said the driver of the crane was not injured.