Workers who were held up in getting to their jobs on time have spoken of the 'shocking' traffic the M1 closure has caused, but residents living in the same area have not noticed any build up of motorists.
Nottinghamshire Police are investigating a crash involving two vans and a lorry that happened on the southbound carriageway of the M1 between junctions 25 and 26 at 2.45am this morning (Thursday, January 20).
The motorway had been closed in both directions just after 3am, but the northbound carriageway was reopened before rush hour this morning.
The southbound carriageway remains closed between J26 for the A610 (Nottingham / Eastwood) and J25 for the A52 Brian Clough Way (Nottingham / Derby), with officers having said it would remain in place for most of the day.
And this caused chaos for those trying to get to work in Nuthall, which is just off J26.
Garming Cheung, 48, pharmacist in the pharmacy at Singh Convenience Store, said: "When I got in this morning, there were queues from the nearby petrol station to the M1, it was shocking really.
"I spoke to a taxi driver who picked someone up at Kimberley, and a usual five minute journey took him upwards of half-an-hour, and in the end he couldn’t complete it so had to cancel the ride, he gave up.
"I live in Wollaton, and I was only slightly delayed, but coming off one stretch was more difficult than usual, it was quite busy."
Natalie Bates, 19, apprentice in the pharmacy at Singh Convenience Store, said: "I live at J27, and to get into work it usually takes me 15 minutes, but this morning it took me an hour.
"There was really bad traffic through Underwood and Watnall, and I was crawling at about 10mph the whole way."
A 71-year-old retired lorry driver from Bulwell, who did not wish to be named, travelled to Singh Convenience Store on his bike, and said: "I’ve come from Bulwell this morning and it was pretty bad.
"It’s quite bad coming off the M1, but when you get to here it’s not bad at all.
"A lot of people on the M1 just look for their destination, they don’t really know the roads if they have to come off.
"If someone was travelling from say Leeds to London today, it would have been chaos.
"My son works for DHL, and I told him about the closure, but he’s lucky he isn’t out that way today."
But not everyone has noticed the delays.
Jas Singh, 66, who is retired and lives in Nuthall, said: "It’s not really too bad around here, on the main road you usually get traffic queueing there when the M1 is shut, but this morning I have to say I haven't noticed it to be that bad or anything."
Adam Thompson, area support at Hickory’s Smokehouse in Nuthall, said: "We’ve only been open three months and it’s not something we usually see affect us.
"If it’s still closed later and people booking are late, or members of staff come in late, then we deal with it."
Police are still investigating the incident, and are urging anyone with any information to come forward.
Chief Inspector Ashley Thornton, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "We are urging drivers to try and avoid and plan an alternate route and avoid the area while we continue to work and resolve this incident.
"The road is expected to remain closed for some time and we would like to thank motorists for their patience.
"We would urge anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has any dash-cam footage to get in touch on 101, quoting incident number 34 of 20 January 2022."
Keep up-to-date with our live blog for all the latest news and events on the M1 closure as it unfolds.
To read all the biggest and best stories first sign up to read our newsletters here .
