Youth in custody until magistrates court hearing after material thrown from a bridge forced police to shut motorway for 11 hours

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with arson after a flammable substance found on the M3 led police to close the motorway for 11 hours.

Officers said the “potentially hazardous” material was thrown from a bridge near Winchester, Hampshire, on 23 September.

Bomb disposal experts examined the substance but police said later it was flammable, not explosive, and only partly ignited.

The boy has been charged with two counts of arson with intent to endanger life and two counts of causing danger to road users, police said. He was remanded in custody and will appear at Basingstoke magistrates court on 2 October.

The M3 motorway, which runs between London and Southampton, was closed in both directions between junctions 9 and 11 from just before 4am until after 3pm.

One of the thousands of motorists held in the miles of tailbacks was reported to have said a police officer had described the incident as a “bomb scare”.

Police investigated a similar incident on the same bridge, which leads to St Catherine’s Hill, at about 4am on 16 September.

On that occasion, officers received reports of something being dropped on to the carriageway and that an object was alight, but found only broken glass and no fire. No one was hurt on either occasion.