Anyone heading south from Preston on the M6 is experiencing long delays on Wednesday (20 September).

A car fire just past junction 27 (Chorley) southbound shut the motorway until around 10am, when one lane was opened.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service have put out the blaze but Lancashire Police said the motorway is ‘likely to be closed for a signficant amount of time due to a damaged road surface’.

Motorists saw long delays back to junction 28 (Leyland).

No one was hurt in the incident and all the occupants of the car were accounted for. The fire started shortly after 6am.

The northbound carriageway was unaffected and remains open.

Around 3.45pm on Wednesday all lanes were re-opened and delays began to ease.