M1 Barnsley: South Yorkshire Police issue update after concerns for man's safety closed motorway

National Highways Yorkshire posted an alert on Twitter, at 4.10pm yesterday, informing motorists that the M1 was being closed in both directions between J36 (Hoyland) and J37 (Barnsley). South Yorkshire Police revealed the incident concerned a “man in distress” shortly later. Today, South Yorkshire Police have confirmed the incident was resolved safely and “no one was injured”.

Images obtained from motorway camera, courtesy of National Highways, showed long queues developing as some drivers were trapped behind the closure. Other tweets from National Highways Yorkshire appeared to suggest some queues were going back a number of junctions, as they alerted motorists to congestion between J36 and 35A, whilst the incident was ongoing.

National Highways announced the M1 was reopened at 6.26pm.