Woman dead in multi-vehicle crash on M1 in Bedfordshire Published duration 15 September 2014

image caption The collision took place just after Toddington services near junction 12 of the M1

A 36-year-old woman has died in a multi-vehicle crash on the M1 motorway in Bedfordshire.

Five cars and a motorbike collided travelling northbound between junction 11 for Luton and junction 12 for Flitwick just after 05:30, police said.

Officers said the victim was pronounced dead at the scene and "several others were seriously injured".

The road is closed and traffic cannot join it from junction 9 for Redbourn to junction 13 near Milton Keynes.

A Bedfordshire Police spokesman advised road users to find another route.

image copyright Arron Peacock image caption Police said the road would be closed for "a considerable amount of time"

The M1 southbound remains open, but a diversion for northbound traffic has been set up.

Sgt Richard Cruse of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Collision Investigation Unit, said its enquiries at the scene would "take some time".

"The vehicles and debris, which is strewn across all four lanes, require us to keep the whole motorway closed for several hours," he said.