A BOLTON nurse who halted motorway traffic after a horror crash has been praised by police for her bravery.

Lesley Ivill, of Brookhouse Avenue, Farnworth, dashed to the rescue of the badly injured motorist seconds before his car became a fireball last night.

She had watched in her rear view mirror as a car lost control at the junction of the M6 with the M55 and hit a bridge stanchion at 7.35pm last night.

The Golf GTI driven by Anthony Lee, of Barnoldswick, overturned before setting fire.

Lesley rushed to give first aid to the driver, who had multiple injuries.

As traffic raced past the crash, she dashed to the centre of the motorway and halted traffic heading from Blackpool to Preston.

Another driver, Stephen Ball, of Wallasey, stopped on the hard shoulder, and began fighting the blaze with his fire extinguisher.

Firefighters and paramedics took more than an hour to remove Mr Lee from the vehicle. He is now recovering in Royal Preston Hospital.

A police spokesman said: "Leslie was absolutely fantastic. She acted as a female King Canute in desperately attempting to halt the motorway traffic.

"She then helped give first aid. We will be doing our best to ensure she is rewarded for her bravery. She was an angel."

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