Police shut M42 for 12 hours after man’s body found

The M42 was shut for more than 12 hours overnight after the body of a man was found on the southbound carriageway.

Warwickshire Police were called at 5.20pm on Wednesday after the grim discovery between junction 10 at Tamworth and junction 9 at Curdworth.

Emergency services attended the scene and found a red Mazda, which is believed to have collided with a safety barrier.

The man was found nearby and a postmortem examination is due to take place in the coming days.

Highways England turned cars around from the rear of the queue in groups of 40 while lorries were parked on the hard shoulder and the southbound carriageway was closed for the night as police investigated.

One lane on the northbound carriageway was also closed until 3.59am on Thursday for barrier repairs, and the motorway was not fully reopened until 5.48am. The last vehicles held had been moved on at around 2am.

Warwickshire Police Sergeant Leanne Mason said: "This was obviously a very sad incident and the road was closed overnight while investigations took place. I know this caused long delays for a great many motorists, so I’d like to thank everyone for their patience.

"A thorough investigation continues today into the circumstances surrounding the death and as such, we would appeal for anyone who was travelling along that stretch of motorway at the time to come forward if they haven’t already.

"Officers are also keen to speak to anyone with dash cam footage of the incident. Any information, no matter how small, may be significant in our investigation."

Anyone with information or who witnessed the collision is asked to call Warwickshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 302 of 15 November.

(c) Sky News 2017: Police shut M42 for 12 hours after man’s body found