M1 closure: Baseball bat rampage near Barnsley caused South Yorkshire J38 motorway closure

A baseball bat rampage in a village brought a section of South Yorkshire motorway to a standstill today

Police have explained why they had to close the M1 in both directions near Barnsley this afternoon, after a suspect fled onto the hard shoulder near junction 38.

And the closure of the motorway was due to the pursuit of the man, who had fled onto the busy trunk road after leaving a trail of vandalism near Kexbrough.

South Yorkshire Police have issued a statement on the incident.

It stated: "Officers were called at 12.14pm earlier today (February 21) following reports a man armed with a baseball bat had damaged a property and a vehicle on Ballfield Lane in the Kexbrough area of Barnsley.

"The man later fled towards the M1 and reportedly went on the hard shoulder near junction 38.

"The motorway was shut in both directions near the junction as officers attempted to locate the suspect.

"The M1 has since reopened and efforts remain ongoing to locate the suspect."

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Bosses at Highways England reported queueing traffic as a result of the road closure, with delays continuing for some time after the motorway had re-opened.

They had warned people that the motorway had been closed, in a statement issued at 1.16pm, stating that the M1 between J37 (Pogmore) and J38 (Bretton) was blocked in both directions due to a police-led incident.

They said at the time that South Yorkshire Police were on the scene and there were delays of at least 15 minutes on the approach.

They later announced it had re-opened