Occupants “left the scene” of a M1 crash before police received a report of a pedestrian being involved in another.

Herts Police were called to the motorway just before 5am after two vehicles crashed while travelling southbound near Junction 9 but said that before officers arrived the occupants of one of the vehicles had left the scene.

Shortly after, they received a call from the ambulance service and another crash was reported, this time involving a lorry and a pedestrian travelling northbound between junctions 6 and 8 on the M1.

Read our more recent article here, containing the sad news that a man died in the second crash

“Emergency services remain at the scene and road closures are currently in place,” the force added.

Within an hour of the crash, police said they expected the closures to remain in place “for some time” and advised motorists to seek alternative routes, which are now also heavily congested and include the A405 and A414.

The following junctions have also been closed: Junction 8 travelling south, Junction 6 travelling north, junction 21A of the M25-North Orbital Road, and the slips from the M25 that join the M1.

National Highways has given 10.30am to 10.45am as the expected time for the road closure to clear.

This is, however, just an estimated time and the actual clear time could be significantly earlier or later.