Police shut M56 and M6 in hunt for escaped prisoner
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA hunt for an escaped prisoner sparked the closure of the M56 and M6 for hours yesterday, causing traffic chaos. All traffic was stopped from every direction on the M56, at the junction with the M6 northbound, as police tried to find Jonathan Simpson.
Officers said the 40-year-old was last seen at nearby HMP Thorn Cross in Appleton, Warrington, at around 9am yesterday. Drivers stuck in the standstill traffic were spotted treating themselves to an ice cream in the middle of the motorway as many left their cars and enjoyed the nice weather.
In a video shared to Twitter by Ross Harper, he said: "No word of a lie, an ice cream van is serving ice cream, on the M56." READ MORE: Police issue images of man they want to speak to after brutal hate-crime attack on gay woman and her dog He added: "I best go and get myself a '99." He told the M.E.N : "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 traffic was first held at around 6pm, and did not start being released again until around 8pm.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk