Police issue statement on why traffic was held on M61 near Chorley

The M61 was closed on the southbound carriageway between J8 Chorley and J9 Aspull at 6pm.

Northbound traffic was then held for around one hour while police dealt with the incident with delays of up to 20 minutes and one mile of congestion on approach.

A spokeperson for Lancashire Police has since confirmed the incident was due to a concern for welfare.

They said: “We were called at just after 6pm and the incident was resolved safely by 7pm.”