Motorist suffers broken back in M1 horror smash

Police have appealed for witnesses to the accident, which happened on the south-bound carriageway at around 10.25 on Saturday.

A police spokesman said: “A grey Renault Clio hatchback was travelling south when the driver appeared to lose control of the car and hit the central reservation before rebounding across all three lanes.

“It stopped with the front near side of the car on the hard shoulder and the rear in lane one.

“Two members of the public who stopped to help the driver said they saw a cloud of smoke before the Clio moved towards the hard shoulder.

“Another witness has described that a black Nissan people carrier-type vehicle appeared to pull in front of the Clio, then braked suddenly causing the Clio to swerve towards the central reservation.”

The Clio driver, a 49-year-old man from Woodhouse, Sheffield, suffered a broken back.

He was taken to Rotherham Hospital, where he was detained.

Anyone with information about the collision should contact South Yorkshire Police on 101 and quote incident number 398 of February 25.