M6 in Staffordshire closed for nine hours after fatal crash
The M6 in Staffordshire was closed for nine hours on Saturday after a fatal crash in the early hours of the morning.
National Highways initially described the reason for the closure as "police-led incident", before Staffordshire Police confirmed that a man had died after a highways vehicle had been hit by an Audi being pursued by officers.
The northbound carriageway as a result of the crash at around 5am between Junction 14 for Stafford and Junction 15 for Stoke.
Within an hour more than two miles of congestion had built up, and by 7.50am drivers stuck in the closure between the two junctions were being turned around.
In subsequent updates, the agency said traffic continued to be turned around while police investigations continue, and warned of 4.6 miles of queues and delays of at least 60 minutes.
A diversion route was put in place, with drivers being told to follow the hollow triangle diversion symbols on road signs as they were diverted along the A34, up to the junction with the A500 and back towards the motorway at Junction 15.
However, at 2.43pm, National Highways confirmed the carriageway was open again.
"The M6 northbound between J14 (Stafford) and J15 (Stoke-on-Trent) in Staffordshire has been reopened following an earlier police led incident," they agency said.
"Please allow extra time for your journey as there are residual delays on the approach."
