Woman detained under Mental Health Act after M6 incident near Leyland this morning
The M6 was closed for an hour this morning while police responded to an emergency welfare incident near Leyland.
The motorway was closed in both directions at around 4am while officers responded to reports of a vulnerable woman on a bridge.
The M6 was closed between junctions 28 (Leyland) and 27 (Standish) while officers and ambulance crews worked at the scene for nearly an hour.
A police spokesperson said the incident was safely resolved and a woman was detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act.
Section 136 is a power that allows a police officer to take a person from a public place to a "place of safety" if they appear to be suffering from a mental disorder and are in urgent need of care or control. This is not an arrest but a measure to ensure the person's immediate safety and to facilitate a health assessment to determine their next steps.
The closed stretch of M6 between Leyland and Standish reopened at around 4.45am.