The M1 motorway was closed in both directions near Leicester Forest East services this afternoon (Thursday, February 20) due to a man on a gantry above the motorway. Leicestershire Police said the man was persuaded to get down eventually and the motorway re-opened at about 3.45pm.
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In a post on X at about 3pm today, the force said: "M1 northbound just after J21 - please be aware the northbound carriageway is currently in the process of being closed due to an incident. There will be a traffic build up. Please use alternative routes."
By 3.15pm the queues already stretched back south beyond the Enderby area and the southbound was also very busy on the approach to the service station.
There were big delays on the M69 eastbound and on various Leicester roads including Lubbesthorpe Way and New Parks Way.
Updates on this incident are below.
No further updates
The routes are clearing now, with the M69 doing much better. There won't be any further updates today. Thanks for reading.
Man on gantry led to the closure
Leicestershire Police has confirmed that the incident involved a man on a gantry above the motorway, who was eventually persuaded to get down.
The police statement said: "The M1 was shut in both directions at Leicester Forest East for around 30 minutes this afternoon following a report of a man on a gantry over the carriageway.
"He came down of his own accord and is with officers. The roads re-opened at 3.45pm."
City traffic still bad and M69 slow to recover
With traffic moving again, the M1 queues are clearing quite well. The M69 is still very congested - probably not helped by the fact the number of lanes reduces from three to two just before the Leicester junction.
And there is a lot of traffic on the diversion routes still, including stretches of Leicester's outer ring road, particularly along New Parks Way and Lubbesthorpe Way.
Road open - but lots of congestion to clear
The latest update from National Highways states the road is open in both directions: "The incident has been safely resolved. The M1 has been reopened both ways between J22 and J21."
It adds there are currently delays of about an hour on the northbound side and half an hour on both the southbound and the city-bound M69.
Congestion affecting New Parks Way, Lubbesthorpe Way and other Leicester roads
Traffic is being diverted via Leicester's outer ring road, meaning lots of extra traffic on roads such as New Parks Way and Lubbesthorpe Way. Meanwhile, the queue on the city-bound M69 is now more than three miles long.
No information from the fire service
The fire service control have confirmed they are at the scene but told us to speak to the police for further information about this incident, which suggests it's something other than a normal collision. We're awaiting further information from the police about what's going on.
Queues stretching from Shepshed to Countesthorpe
It's looking very bad on Google Maps, which uses phone location data to meaure traffic flow. There are queues on the southbound stretching from Leicester Forest East services back almost to the Shepshed junction near Loughborough.
And on the northbound side, the traffic queues stretch from the services down further south than Countesthorpe.
National Highways update
On the National Highways website the latest update states: "The M1 in Leicestershire is closed in both directions between J22 (Markfield) and J21 (Leicester) due to a Leicestershire police led Incident
"Emergency services including Leicestershire Police are in attendance. National Highways are also on scene to assist with traffic management and strategic closures."
Both carriageways shut
Inrix has confirmed that the motorway is actually shut in both directions, with the southbound side also stopped. We're awaiting further information from Leicestershire Police about what's happening.
Very busy in both directions
While the police have only said the northbound side is being closed, the southbound side of the M1 is just as bad. There are also long queues on the M69 on the approach to Leicester:
