National Highways has reopened the northbound M5 near Bristol following a gantry collision earlier today, with the southbound carriageway anticipated to be open later this evening. (March 2)

A tipper lorry struck an overhead gantry on the southbound carriageway between junction 17 (Cribbs Causeway) and junction 18 (Avonmouth) at approximately 8.20am and due to earlier police investigations and the safety risks to drivers, the M5 was fully closed southbound and northbound.

The incident displaced electronic and fixed signage, severed electrical cables, while hydraulic fluid also spilled on to the carriageway, which also required emergency resurfacing.

Following extensive safety assessments to the damaged overhead gantry, and once Avon and Somerset Police concluded investigations at the scene, National Highways' teams set about recovering the lorry bed, which had become embedded in the gantry.

Following a delicate recovery operation to extricate the tipper bed, the removal of all gantry fittings and signage, and further safety inspections, the northbound carriageway was reopened at 5.20pm.

Following the completion of emergency resurfacing, the southbound carriageway is anticipated to be reopened a little later this evening. In the meantime, southbound traffic will continue to be diverted via the M4 westbound to the M49 to re join the M5 at junction 18.

Jerry Robinson, South West Engineering Manager for National Highways, said: "We were forced to close the M5 today to protect the travelling public and given the scale of the damage, we and our teams have been working extremely hard to ensure we could reopen by this evening.

"The incident occurred on a particularly busy section of the M5, we have been working with our police partners throughout the day, and we appreciate the closure has caused significant delays to people's journeys.

"The gantry is now perfectly safe but the extent of the damage means we will need to replace the structure and we'll be looking to move a new gantry into place in the coming days, under a planned overnight closure.

"We'll communicate that once we have a date confirmed, and in the meantime we thank all drivers for their co-operation and patience today."