Motorway chaos as broken down lorry leads to oil spill with drivers waiting in miles of congestion

In the first warning, National Highways stated that drivers would deal with 30 minutes of delays and three miles of congestion.

Lane one of two is closed as a result of the broken down lorry, with recovery arranged as traffic officers deal with the scene.

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However, in more recent updates, traffic officers had to warn that the lorry had suffered an oil leak which has delayed the re-opening of lane one.

The clear-up effort has resulted in an hour of delays and a staggering six miles of congestion, according to a post on social media site X.

The "substantial" oil spillage from the broken down lorry has caused slicks across the road which will need to be cleaned before the road can be reopened.

National Highways is calling on drivers to allow for extra time on their journey. They may also wish to re-route or delay their journey.

Traffic is being diverted via the solid triangle diversion symbol on road signs:

• Exit the M180 using J4 exit slip road and proceed to the end of the slip road
• At the roundabout, take the third exit onto A15 and proceed along this road for approx. 500m to the roundabout with the A18
• Take the first exit onto A18 and proceed for approx. two miles to the roundabout with the A1029
• Take the third exit onto A1029 and proceed for approx. three miles to the roundabout with the A1077

• Take the first exit onto A1077 and proceed for approx. three miles to the roundabout with the A1077(M) motorway
• Take the second exit onto A1077(M) southbound and proceed for approx. one mile to the roundabout with the M181
• Tale the first exit onto the M181 southbound and proceed for approx. two miles to the M18 J3/M181 Interchange
• Proceed onto the slip road to rejoin the M180 westbound

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National Highways said it hoped to re-open the road by "mid-afternoon". It also warned that the event is expected to clear and traffic to return to normal between 7pm and 7.30pm.