Police are appealing for witnesses after a man was allegedly thrown from a minibus on the M6.

Lancashire Police have arrested six men, who were travelling inside the vehicle, on suspicion of assault following the incident between Junction 33 and 34 on the motorway.

Traffic was halted northbound shortly after 1.50pm.

Police said a man had fallen onto the carriageway from a minibus heading north – close to Lancaster University.

The man suffered a serious head injury and has been taken to Royal Preston Hospital for treatment and remains in a stable condition.

The M6 was shut until around 5pm while emergency services attended – causing huge tailbacks to Preston.

Detectives are appealing for anyone who saw the incident and urging anyone with dashcam footage to come forward.

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Detective Inspector Bev Mason, of Lancaster CID, said: “We are at the very early stages of our investigation and want to establish what has caused this man to fall from the vehicle.

“While we have made a number of arrests, we are appealing to anyone who saw what happened, or who has dashcam footage of the incident, to contact us.

“If you saw anything unusual which may help with our enquiries, call police.”

Anyone with information can contact police on 101 quoting log reference 0736 of September 3.