A1(M) Wetherby crash injury update issued by police after collision causes 10-mile traffic queues

Emergency services were first called to junction 45 at Wetherby shortly after 9.30am on Tuesday amid reports of a serious crash. Police officers, firefighters, paramedics and highways staff were all dispatched to the scene, with the northbound carriageway being swiftly closed.

The southbound carriageway was also shut for several hours between junctions 46 and 45 while an air ambulance was at the scene. By the time it re-opened, queues stretched back as far north as junction 49 at Thirsk.

It was more than two hours later that the northbound carriageway re-opened, by which time National Highways was warning drivers about delays of 90 minutes and 10 miles of traffic.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “There were a number of people with minor injuries and one person taken to hospital with a serious head injury, which is not believed to be life-threatening.”