M6 traffic chaos as motorway still closed by police after horror lorry accident

Shocking images shared on social media showed an enormous heavy goods vehicle tipped over on the M6, covering the central reservation and the majority of the north and southbound lanes

The M6 motorway remains closed this morning after a lorry was overturned in a devastating collision yesterday.

Traffic was brought to a complete standstill on the M6 between J33 A6 Preston Lancaster Road (Lancaster South/Garstand) and J32 M55 (Broughton Interchange) on Wednesday afternoon at around 2pm.

Police confirmed that a vehicle had been overturned, leading them to shutter the motorway in both directions. Terrifying images shared on social media showed an enormous heavy goods vehicle (HGV) laying on its side across the majority of the north and southbound lanes, and the central reservation, with a single car broken down in front of it.

Emergency services raced to the scene, including the air ambulance, according to National Highways. Lancashire Police initially said the motorway would be closed for a "number of hours" while they carry out their investigations and clean up.

This morning they issued a follow-up update which revealed that part of the road was still closed. The statement read: "Good Morning, yesterday we advised of the M6 being closed and we just wanted to provide an update. At the moment we have been able to open Lanes 1&2 on the Northbound carriageway only between Junction 32 & 33.

"The Southbound remains closed at this time as the carriageway needs to be re-surfaced. Traffic is still expected to be heavy in this area until the full carriageways reopens. Please plan your journey accordingly and we will provide a further update once all lanes are reopened."

In a statement yesterday, the force said: "We were called at about 11.20am to reports of a serious collision on the M6 motorway close to junction 33. The motorway is currently closed in both directions while emergency services deal with the incident.

"We will release further information when we are in a position to do so." Lancashire Police posted earlier in the day, saying they "anticipate this will be closed for a number of hours" while conducting their investigation.

According to National Highways, the "serious collision" involved a HGV "that has collided with the central reservation and has subsequently overturned, coming to rest on its side, on the opposite carriageway."

National Highways predicted traffic would return to normal at around 4.30pm. It remains unclear if there were any injuries in relation to the accident.

The crash came as thousands of fans of Preston football club were travelling along the M6 to reach Sunderland, where the two teams kicked off at 8pm last night. Fans took to social media to warn their fellow supporters to avoid the motorway due to the overturned lorry.