Up to 50 people could be entitled to compensation after bitumen on a recently resurfaced road in far north Queensland melted around car tyres, causing traffic chaos and damage to vehicles.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) was forced to close the Malanda Millaa Millaa Road near Tarzali on the Atherton Tablelands on Wednesday and undertake emergency repairs after receiving several complaints.

The department said the tarmac was resurfaced last week. ( Supplied: David Anthony, Tablelander )

Motorist Bridget Daley said her tyres were covered in bitumen, which had also flown off, striking her mud guard bar and 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.

"It was like we were insects caught in a spider's web and we were sinking.

"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."

Drivers said they had inches of bitumen coating their tyres. ( Supplied: 7 News )

Another driver posted to social media saying the roads were a disgrace.

"We now have chipped paint and windscreen damage to our brand new car," Anissa Rasmussen wrote.

"We were stopped by police at Tarzali 10 kilometres from our destination because cars were broken down covered in tar, with it coating their wheels.

"Then police diverted us an hour through more roadworks with idiots driving high speeds through the gravel and spraying our car with rocks."

The department said the tarmac was resurfaced last week by transport contractor COLAS Australia, but became damaged due to wet weather.

District director Sandra Burke said the extreme hot temperatures that followed caused the surface to melt.

"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."

Motorists said they had chipped paint and damaged windscreens as a result. ( Facebook: Anissa Rasmussen )

A similar incident in Victoria made headlines around the world earlier this year, after the Hume Highway melted as the state was in the midst of a heatwave.

Drivers to be paid compensation 'as soon as possible'

Ms Burke said the department would offer compensation for any vehicle or property damage caused by the works and urged anyone who was impacted to get in contact.

"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."

Drivers had to get their tyres replaced after driving through melting bitumen. ( Supplied )

Ms Burke deflected questions about whether the road was laid properly, and said the department was still investigating.

"This situation is totally unacceptable from a TMR perspective and we are fixing it as quickly as we can," she said.

'I've never seen anything like it'

Meanwhile, Tablelands Regional Council Mayor Joe Paronella said he understood it was a change of weather that led to the tyre damage.

Mr Whalley said one tourist travelling through the region for school holidays was forced to pay $1,200 for a new set of tyres. ( Supplied )

"I have never seen anything like it and when the reports started coming through yesterday it was just incredible," he said.

"Last week a whole section of road was done by a Main Roads contractor and the gravel they put down on top did not adhere to the bitumen.

"We started getting reports in the middle of last week from people getting stones and gravel flying up everywhere so we've been trying to assist Main Roads as much as possible, we helped with brooms to get the gravel off.

"That was when we had cold weather and drizzle, since the weekend we've had the exact opposite and the bitumen, and the way I understand it, because there's no gravel, it's leading to vehicles galore with this massive amount of tar."

The owner of a nearby tyre repair service Vince Whalley said about a dozen customers came in after traversing the road, needing their tyres replaced.

"They become very unsafe. The tar coming off the tyres itself is knocking bumper bars loose, knocking panels underneath," he said.

"They have got tar up to an inch, inch and a half thick on them so we can't clean the tyres up, we've got to replace them.

"This would be the first time I've ever seen anything like it."

Mr Whalley said one tourist travelling through the region for school holidays was forced to pay $1,200 for a new set of tyres.

"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."