An accident on the M11 near Cambridge caused severe delays and queuing traffic. This followed reports of an overturned horsebox which caused the northbound road to be blocked.
The accident was first reported at around 8am this morning (Wednesday, February 15). It took place on the M11 northbound just before junction 9 for Saffron Walden near Cambridge.
Traffic was being affected for miles along the M11 northbound and was affecting traffic near Duxford, Cambridgeshire too. Delays of around 85 minutes were reported earlier and have since eased and the road has reopened.
Slow traffic was also being caused by people on the opposite side slowing down to look at the accident.
live blog:
Reporting on traffic was one of the main news topics to cover during my time at Cambridgeshire Live, and I would check the INRIX travel page throughout the day. This is where I found the major delays on the M11 near Cambridgeshire, which prompted a live blog to be created.
I swiftly created the live blog, posting information from the INRIX website, making it clear of the source. I also shared a screenshot of where exactly the accident had taken place on the M11, which was also posted on the live blog in the first posts. As the story developed, I contacted the emergency services for a comment, and a comment from Essex police was later included in the blog.
I also found tweets from National Highways and AA Traffic that I posted in the blog, again, making it clear of the sources. We were also sent in a video from a member of the public who drove past the scene of the accident, which we added to our blog. Before sharing the video, we made sure that no victims from the accident could be seen as they would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, given the situation. No vehicle registrations were recognisable in the video, but if they were, should be obscured as to not be identifiable.
Once the accident was cleared I made sure to inform our readers, with a quote from National Highways.
This live blog was open from around 9am until 12pm on 15 February 2023 and gained 15.3K page views for Cambridgeshire Live. It also won the weekly Reach regional ‘simply the best’ acknowledgement two days later.