The search for an escaped prisoner has seen the M6 and M56 motorways close for hours, leaving 14 miles of traffic.
Inmate Jonathan Simpson, 40, was last seen at HMP Thorn Cross in Appleton, Cheshire, at 9am today, with police continuing enquiries to track him down.
Stuck drivers have been buying ice-creams as they waited for the gridlock to clear.
In a video shared to social media, people can be seen walking up to a stationary ice cream truck in the middle of the motorway before ordering their favourite icy treats.
All traffic was halted in both directions on the M6 at junction 20 (Lymm) at around 6.30pm following what was described as a "police incident".
Queues then tailed back for miles to junction 19 and onto the M56.
Cheshire Police have since confirmed the closures were to allow for searches to find the missing prisoner, who remains at large.
The force is urging anyone with information as to Simpson's whereabouts to get in touch.
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He is described as white, 5’ 11” tall with black shaved hair, green eyes and a beard.
He was last seen wearing a dark navy under armour tracksuit and has ‘Krystal’ tattooed on his upper right arm.
He is known to have links within the West Yorkshire area.
In a video shared to Twitter by Ross Harper, he can be heard saying: "No word of a lie, an ice cream van is serving ice cream, on the M56."
He adds: "I best go and get myself a '99."
Ross told the Manchester Evening News: "We were stuck on the M56 for around three hours.
"I think somebody must have knocked on the ice cream van window asking if they could get an ice cream and then the next thing you know more and more people were rocking up to get one, I was literally in stitches when I was watching it happen."
The clip is taken from the hard shoulder of the carriageway, and shows three lanes of congestion, with the ice cream van in the middle lane.
At the end of the clip, Ross is seen holding a vanilla ice cream topped with hundreds and thousands and sauce.
Referring to Simpson, Inspector Neil Anson said: “We currently have numerous officers and police dogs visible in ongoing searches for Simpson.
"While numerous enquiries are ongoing we’re urging anyone who sees Simpson to not approach him but to instead call Cheshire Constabulary immediately on 999 quoting IML 1228955.
“Officers will be maintaining a presence around the prison and in the local area to provide reassurance to the community. If you have any concerns please do speak to one of them.”
The M6 reopened to all traffic at around 8.30pm.
Information can also be passed on anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
