M61 incident: motorway closed between junctions 6 and 8 ‘for a number of hours’, police warn

The M61 near Bolton is closed between Junction 6, the Horwich Interchange and Junction 8, the Chorley North Link Interchange, northbound due to an ongoing Lancashire Police-led incident.

National Highways North West announced that both directions were closed at 4.17pm, and added that it was unclear how long the road will be closed for at this stage, although it would likely be for “a number of hours”.

At 5:07pm, National Highways said that the southbound carriageway had now reopened.

They added that there were 45 minute delays on the northbound approach, which again would likely be closed for a number of hours.

Lancashire Police thanked motorists in advance for their patience.