A MAN died after he was hit by a lorry as he tried to cross a motorway.

Ian Wilkinson, aged 39, was struck by the lorry at 6.30am yesterday on the southbound carriageway of the M61, between Chorley and Horwich.

Police said last night they did not know what Mr Wilkinson was doing on the motorway at that time.

Mr Wilkinson, of Hindley, is the third pedestrian to be killed on the M61 this year.

Joanne Higham, aged 32, was killed near Bolton West Services on Sunday, May 31, after she got out of a car following an argument with her boyfriend.

Oliva Nickson, aged 82, who had never driven on motorways, stopped next to the central reservation on January 29 to ask for directions from the owners of a broken-down vehicle on the hard shoulder when she got lost and walked into the path of car.

Earlier this year a campaign was launched by the Highways Agency, warning people not to walk on the motorway following the death of Jordan Allen, aged 23, who was walking home after a night out when he was hit by a car near Little Hulton in February last year.

In 2007, The Bolton News launched a campaign to light up the M61, after Sean Green, aged 17, of Whitsundale, Westhoughton, was knocked down when trying to cross the motorway between Westhoughton and Horwich.