Thousands of motorists were left stranded on the M3 for hours after police closed a section of the motorway and called in a bomb disposal team.
Hampshire police said the road was closed on Saturday because of a potential hazardous material incident, and the bomb disposal team was trying to establish exactly what the material was. No one had been hurt.
Police advised motorists to find alternative routes after they closed the motorway between junctions nine and 11 at Winchester at 4am, forcing thousands of drivers to divert.
The motorway remained closed for nearly 12 hours while experts from the Royal Navy’s explosives ordnance disposal unit based at Portsmouth examined the packages.
Police said they were also working alongside the Hampshire fire and rescue service. After opening both the north- and southbound carriageways, police said they were still unable to confirm the nature of the material at the centre of the incident. “Investigations are still ongoing to establish exactly what it is and how it got there,” a spokesman said.
The force said: “We understand the inconvenience the closure of the motorway has caused.”
M3 open and traffic is moving both ways Thank you for your patience and understanding #InspO
— Hants Roads Policing (@HantsPolRoads) September 23, 2017
Witnesses said tailbacks extended several miles and Southampton Football Club told fans attending the Premier League match against Manchester United to avoid the area. Highways England said traffic was also congested on diversionary roads.
People stuck on the motorway took video footage of some motorists driving the wrong way down the hard shoulder to get off the M3, a traffic offence that routinely carries a fine.
Jenna Keating, 31, from Windsor, said: “There are lots of people stranded here/ People have got out of their cars to stretch their legs and things, but some are just turning round and going back down the hard shoulder.
“We actually spoke to police about this to see whether this was something we could do in the circumstances and they said absolutely not. They also said the delay had been quite well advertised, although none of the four of us in the car saw anything until we were in it.”
