This is why M1 motorway closed for five hours near Sheffield and Barnsley last night

The motorway was closed from around 10pm last night until around 3am this morning, with tailbacks of queueing traffic and vehicles diverted onto alternative routes.

This morning, South Yorkshire Police issued a statement to explain why the road had to be closed, even though there had been no crashes.

They stated: “Police were called at around 9.39pm yesterday (Friday 1 July) to reports of a concern for the safety of a man on a bridge over the M1 at junction 36 in Barnsley.

“The motorway was closed for several hours while emergency services dealt with the incident.”

Emergency services were sent to the scene, and Highways England first reported the closure of the carriageway at around 10.36pm last night.

At that point, National Highways said the M1 was closed in both directions between junction 36 Tankersley (A61) and junction 37 (Barnsley)

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they also attended the incident.

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