A truck fire on Auckland’s Southern Motorway has created a massive backlog of traffic this afternoon.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) first reported a fire had blocked a southbound lane on State Highway 1 near Papakura at 9.45am.

At midday, traffic had backed up more than 7km.

NZTA expected the two leftmost lanes to remain blocked “for some time with a complex clean up required”.

Motorists were told to expect long delays.