Police have confirmed why they closed the M1 near Watford yesterday evening.

Herts Police shut the motorway in both directions between Junction 5 (Watford) and Junction 6 (St Albans) after receiving “several” calls from people concerned for the welfare of a man near the carriageway shortly after 6.15pm yesterday (July 9).

He was taken to hospital to be assessed, the force added.

There were around 20 minutes of delays when the road reopened, soon after 7pm, according to National Highways.

National Highways described the closure as a “police-led incident” and confirmed Herts Police were at the scene and “leading the response to this closure” before adding an update that it had reopened at 7.16pm.

Herts Police then confirmed the reason for the response this morning (July 10).

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