Three lanes of M1 motorway remained closed this morning after heavy good vehicle fire

Police were called shortly after 8.30pm last night (18 December) to reports of a vehicle fire on the M1 near junction 31 at Aston.

The north and southbound carriageways near the junction were temporarily closed due to a large goods vehicle which was on fire.

Nobody was injured but damage was caused to the road surface. The northbound carriageway has since been fully reopened but part of the southbound carriageway remains closed near junction 31.

An investigation is ongoing.

A National Highways spokesman confirmed: “This was an HGV on fire on the southbound carriageway and was reported to us at 8.30pm.

“As of 8.18am, three lanes of the four were still closed and crews were on scene for clean up. Assessments are taking place to see if/what resurfacing is required.

"There are 60-minute delays and six miles of congestion. The northbound is all open with no issues (it had been closed initially when the incident started).”

They added: “There is likely to be some movement on this imminently so I will be sending out a traffic bulletin as and when things start re-opening.”