Traffic chaos on the M1 as cows rampage across motorway after crash

A trailer crash which spilled a herd of cows onto a motorway brought traffic to a standstill today.

Vehicles were stopped on both carriageways of the M1 between junctions 14 and 15 while emergency services tried to round up the cattle, causing long delays.

A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said nobody was injured in the crash, but they could not let traffic pass until all the cows had been retrieved.

She said: "A vehicle towing a trailer with livestock has had an accident somewhere near the Newport Pagnell services.

"The trailer has gone over and some of the livestock has escaped.

"At the moment they have managed to secure most of the livestock but my understanding is we have still got two cows heading up the motorway.

"The road has not officially been closed, but police have stopped traffic in both directions until they can get the animals off the road, or it could cause another accident.

"The farmer that was driving the vehicle had a minor injury but it's nothing serious."

The spokeswoman said the accident had caused long delays, but traffic would be on the move again once the cows were caught.