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Around 50 people could be entitled to receive compensation after a road melted and damaged a number of cars, Express.co.uk reports.

A dramatic shift in weather in Queensland, Australia caused the tarmac on the roads to melt and stick to car tyres and bodywork.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) was forced to close the Malanda Millaa Millaa Road near Tarzali on the Atherton Tablelands yesterday to perform emergency repairs on the road surfaces after a series of complaints, reports ABC.au.

According to reports, bitumen on a recently resurfaced road melted around car tyres and even caused parts of cars to break off.

Motorist Bridget Daley said the bitumen not only coated her tyres but also stuck her mudguard, snapping it off.

"I was absolutely horrified to find that there was three inches of bitumen coated around all four wheels of my vehicle," she said.

"There were people that were pulled up on the side of the road and they were in total and complete disbelief as to what had happened to their vehicles."

The incident is said to have been caused because the resurfaced road was damaged during a spell of wet weather, which was followed by extremely hot weather.

District director Sandra Burke described how the incident occurred.

“It's a combination of factors," she said.

"We have extreme weather conditions on Malanda Millaa Millaa Road … unusually cold weather and wet weather combined with works at hand and the short impact of the hot weather yesterday caused the situation to occur."

She added that the department would offer compensation for any affected vehicle or damaged property caused by the road surface.

"All claims for compensation will be assessed on a case by case basis," Ms Burke said.

"TMR will ensure compensation is paid as soon as possible."

"I have never seen anything like it and when the reports started coming through yesterday, it was just incredible," local mayor Joe Paronella told the ABC.

"There are so many innocent people caught in this and if anyone who has damage to their vehicles to do with the failure of these roadworks need to contact Main Roads," Cr Paronella added.

"I would certainly be talking to the department about possible compensation."