M6 closure Preston: 90-minute delays with traffic stopped in both ...

The carriageway has now been closed since just after 7am and is expected to be shut for most of the day. Police say the tanker ploughed through the central reservation of the motorway while travelling northbound this morning. It then crashed through into the southbound carriageway before overturning between junctions 31 and 32.

The male driver and his female passenger were injured and have been taken to hospital, Lancashire Police said. Their condition is currently unknown.

Traffic that was initially impacted was turned around but long delays remain, impacting the M6, M55 eastbound and M61 northbound.

As of 12.30pm, the milk tanker had been righted and removed from the central reservation barrier with clear-up works under way after both milk and diesel spilled into the carriageway. There are however still tailbacks of 120 minutes or more.

Chief Inspector Patrick Worden said: "At this time we expect the motorway to be closed for some, if not most, of the day. The tanker needs to be recovered and due to the large scale milk and diesel spillage, the motorway surface treated appropriately. We expect this to cause significant delays and I would advise motorists to make plans for alternate routes."

Some reports on social media suggested there were real issues in the centre of Preston as a result.