Ramsbottom: M66 partly closed after van and three cars crash

The major motorway route was closed at one of the two lanes after the four-vehicle crash. The incident, which occurred at around 3.30pm this afternoon (August 8) caused delays of around 45 minutes during rush hour traffic, with five miles of congestion. Traffic was queuing back to Heap Bridge Interchange.

National Highways confirmed the crash occurred between the M66 Northbound Junction 1 at Ramsbottom and the A56 Edenfield.

A spokesperson said: "A collision involving four vehicles northbound on the M66 between Junction 1 (Ramsbottom) and the A56 (Edenfield) was reported at 3.32pm this afternoon. "A van and three cars were involved, with the emergency services andNational Highways Traffic Officers attending.

"One lane (lane two) of two was closed to enable the recovery of vehicles involved. "The scene was cleared at 4.21pm and traffic should start to flow freely again with all lanes operational. "Further information is available from National Highways by visiting www.trafficengland.com and the Twitter account @HighwaysNWEST."