There was slow traffic on the southbound M1 in Leicestershire this morning after a crash shut all lanes, requiring vehicles to go via junction 21 - the exit for Fosse Park and the M69. The crash was reported at about 8.30am today (Thursday, February 27) and by 9am there were queues stretching back five miles.
Leicestershire Police warned motorists in a post on X this morning: "M1 Junction 21 southbound - please be advised that there will be delays due to a road traffic collision. Please find alternative routes and updates will follow. Thank you for your patience."
Updates on this incident are below.
All lanes open
The road has been cleared and traffic is moving normally past junction 21 once again. The queue is gradually clearing.
Traffic taking 90 minutes to go nine miles
The queue on the southbound M1 now stretches back beyond junction 22 at Markfield. According to Google Maps, the traffic on the M1 is taking about 90 minutes to travel the nine miles through the congestion.
Thats an average speed of six miles per hour - still a bit faster than walking pace, at least.
Another picture from National Highways
This picture has been shared on X by National Highways:
Queue still more than seven miles long
There hasn't been much change in the situation. The queue on the M1 still stretches all the way back to the Coalville exit at Markfield, while New Parks Way and other parts of the outer ring road in Leicester are still very congested.
The M69 remains clear and the northbound side of the M1 is still moving well.
New Parks Way and other city roads still being affected
It's still very busy on Leicester's outer ring road - particularly along the southbound New Parks Way. The M1 southbound queue seems to be getting a bit longer:
M1 still very busy with queue growing, M69 pretty much clear
The queue on the southbound M1 is nearly eight miles long and now stretches back to junction 22 at Markfield. The M69 is clear now, though, and the A46 queue is still about two miles long.
Traffic still very bad
The queues are still about the same length they were 15 minutes ago. The motorway has now been closed for more than an hour and a half.
All southbound M1 traffic is being redirected via the roundabout at the M69 junction.
The northbound M1 is unaffected and moving well.
How the queues are looking
The queue on the southbound M1 is currently seven miles long.
The M69 approach to Leicester has queuing traffic for 2.1 miles.
The A46 has a queue stretching back 1.8 miles from the M1 junction.
3,000 bottles of water on the road
The crash was witnessed by an off-duty fire service employee. A spokeswoman for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said: "At 8.16am today we received a call from one of our own officers who has been passing on the other side of the motorway and witnessed it.
"Crews attended to make the vehicles safe. No one was trapped but the M1 southbound was blocked due to the 3,000 bottles on the carriageway."
Shed load of water bottles adding to the problems on the M1
The reason the M1 crash is causing so much chaos is that a lorry involved has shed its load of water bottles. The collision involved a van and the water-carrying lorry, according to the Inrix traffic service.
The queue is now more than six miles long, stretching almost back to the Coalville exit.
New Parks Way and other city roads busy, as second crash adds to problems
There are big queues on New Parks Way and other sections of the city's outer ring road due to the big queues on the M1 and A46.
Meanwhile, there was an earlier crash on the inner ring road near Lancaster Road, which has caused a lot of queuing traffic in the Freemen's Common and Regent Road areas. That is now clear but there's a lot of traffic around still.
Traffic camera picture appears to show emergency services at scene of crash
This image from a traffic camera appears to show police or highways officers blocking the M1 exit slipway.
Queues back to Ratby, with A46 southbound also affected
There is a mile-long queue on the A46 heading towards the M1, as well as a long queue on the M1 itself, which is about five miles and still growing:
