Police launch investigation into how woman came to be on northbound carriageway

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Police closed a motorway in England on Thursday after a car hit the body of a woman in the early hours of the morning.

The vehicle collided with the woman’s body on the northbound carriageway of the M66 near Bury at about 2am.

Detectives have launched an investigation into how the woman came to be in the road.

The motorway has reopened after being closed northbound between junction 2 at Bury and the A56 at Ramsbottom.

Greater Manchester police traffic experts and forensic teams also closed one lane of the southbound carriageway at junction 2 to carry out an investigation.

There were long delays following the closure, heading towards the M62 and the M60 at Simister Island.

North West Motorway police first tweeted about the incident at 2.25am. A spokesman for GMP said: “Investigative work is currently being carried out on the M66 following a collision. Shortly after 2am this morning, police were called to reports that a car had collided with a body on the M66 northbound in Bury.

“Emergency services attended and sadly found the body of a woman. Inquiries are ongoing to establish how the woman came to be in the carriageway.”

Highways England reported queues of traffic over seven miles long trying to get on to the nearby A56.

A spokesman for Highways England added: “There are very long delays on approach to this incident if heading southbound, with over seven miles of slow-moving traffic backing on to the A56.”