National Highways warned drivers to plan ahead for their journeys after M5 traffic was held in both directions in Devon because of a police incident. The northbound carriageway later reopened just before 10pm, but delays were still building while the southbound side remained shut between J28 and J29.
Inrix at 8.23pm
Inrix said at 8.23pm that All traffic being temporarily held due to police incident on M5 in both directions between J30 A376 Sidmouth Road (Exeter / Service Areas) and J29 A30 Honiton Road (Exeter / Honiton). That put the stop point inside Devon, with the closure covering the stretch around Exeter Services and Honiton Road.
By just before 9pm, Inrix had moved from a temporary hold to a full closure northbound. It said the northbound carriageway was closed between J30 A376 Sidmouth Road and J29 A30 Honiton Road, and the southbound carriageway was also closed between J28 and J29.
National Highways and queues
National Highways said police were at the scene and warned that delays were building. For drivers already on the route, that meant the hold was not a brief pause in movement but a wider stoppage affecting both directions at once.
A driver who spoke to DevonLive said they could see queues from near J29 back past J30. The same driver said there were several police cars heading up the A380, giving a clear sign of how the response was moving through Devon.
J28 to J29 closure
The complication was that the road did not clear in one step. Just before 10pm, Inrix said the northbound carriageway had re-opened and the police incident was over between J30 A376 Sidmouth Road and J29 A30 Honiton Road, but it also said the southbound carriageway was still closed between J28 and J29.
For motorists, that left a split picture: one direction was moving again while the other was still restricted. Anyone heading through Devon on the M5 still had to account for the southbound closure and the queues that had already built while the incident was in place.
