Man and woman in hospital after horror lorry crash on M56

One person was airlifted to hospital and taken by ambulance following the serious crash

10:34, 19 May 2026

View Image

Heavy traffic on M56 near Warrington(Image: National Highways)

A man and woman are in hospital after a serious crash on the M56. The M56 eastbound was closed near Stretton at around 5pm yesterday, May 18, following a crash between a lorry and two cars.

Cheshire Police [1] were called to the scene, with officers arriving to find a HGV had been involved in a crash with a a blue BMW 325I, a grey Toyota Yaris, a dark blue Ford Focus, and a black Tesla. The driver of the BMW, a 43-year-old woman, suffered serious injuries and was taken to the Royal Salford Hospital [2].

North West Air Ambulance also attended the scene and airlifted a 52-year-old man, who was the front seat passenger of the BMW, to the Royal Salford Hospital.

Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening and both are in a stable condition, a spokesperson for the police force said.

Following the crash, the eastbound carriageway of the M56 was closed between junction 10 at Stretton and junction nine at the M6 interchange as investigation work was carried out.

The motorway reopened around 12.30am on Tuesday, May 19.

Enquiries into the incident are ongoing and anyone who witnessed the collision, or anyone with any video footage, is asked to contact Cheshire Police on 101 or at www.cheshire.police.uk/tell-us quoting IML-2331295.

For the latest news and breaking news visit liverpoolecho.co.uk/news [3]

Article continues below

Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you by signing up to our daily and breaking newsletter [4].

Follow us on X @LivECHONews [6] or on Bluesky @liverpoolecho.co.uk [7] - official Liverpool ECHO accounts - real news in real time.

We're also on Facebook/theliverpoolecho [8] - your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Liverpool ECHO.

References

^ Cheshire Police (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
^ taken to the Royal Salford Hospital (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
^ liverpoolecho.co.uk/news (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
^ daily and breaking newsletter (data.reachplc.com)
^ here (data.reachplc.com)
^ @LivECHONews (twitter.com)
^ Bluesky @liverpoolecho.co.uk (bsky.app)
^ Facebook/theliverpoolecho (www.facebook.com)