The M61 was closed for a period of time this evening after a road traffic collision.

The motorway was closed from junction 6 A6027 De Havilland Way (Horwich) and J8 A674 Millennium Way (Chorley) this evening from around 4PM due to a Lancashire Police led incident which was later released as a road traffic collision.

The southbound side was re-opened at 5:10PM and the northbound side was re-opened at around 7:25PM.

The closures caused severe delays across the area with surrounding areas including Adlington, Blackrod, Heath Charnock and Chorley also facing delays and drivers were warned to avoid the area.

Patrols were also deployed during the closure to deal with reports of motorists driving the wrong way back down the M61.

Lancashire Police said: "It’s an ongoing incident, an RTC."

But emergency services have yet to confirm if there were any injuries involved.

The motorway is now open and we will update when we have more information.