M-way crash witness plea

Police are appealing for information about the incident which blocked the south bound carriageway of the M1 for around six hours.

The incident happened about two miles before junction 34 on the southbound carriageway of the M1.

A blue Volvo FM12 large goods vehicle was travelling south in lane one of the motorway when the driver lost control of his vehicle and swerved across all three lanes before mounting the central reservation.

The impact of the collision threw debris on to the north bound carriageway, damaging three vehicles that were travelling north. The Volvo lorry then jackknifed and the trailer overturned on to the central reservation.

The driver of the lorry, a 29-year-old man from Newark, Nottinghamshire, was not injured.

"Officers who attended say it is remarkable that, given the time of the collision and the fact the motorway was busy with early evening traffic, there were no injuries or other vehicles damaged in the collision," said a South Yorkshire police spokesman.

"A total of four vehicles were damaged, but that was as a result of being hit by debris from the initial collision," he added.

The southbound carriageway was closed for about six hours while officers from the Road Policing Group and the Highways Agency recovered the vehicle and cleared debris.

The northbound carriageway also had two lanes closed for around two hours before this was reduced to a single lane closure for a further three hours.

Anyone who witnessed the collision, which happened at around 5.55pm on Thursday, should contact the South Yorkshire Police Accident Witness Line on 0114 2202970.