Audi driver 'walks off' M6 after horror smash before van stolen at knifepoint in nearby services

An eyewitness has described the shocking moment an Audi smashed into the back of a lorry before a window cleaning van was allegedly stolen at knifepoint minutes later. Police were called to junction 33 on the M6 following reports of a crash between a car and a lorry on Thursday.

Photos from the incident show the red Audi destroyed in the middle of the southbound carriageway.

A woman who told reporters that the Audi was being driven 'erratically' seconds before the crash said: "This must have been about 40 seconds after the crash when I stopped and the driver had just started to wander off."

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She said that the Audi driver was walking around and brushed off any advice to seek medical attention after the horror smash. She added: "People tried to stop him from wandering off as we thought he needed medical attention.

"Someone said they thought he had a knife. Then someone else said it was just a branded vape, so we started to calm down a bit. We weren't that alarmed because we thought it was a vape and knew the police were on their way. Then another person came to say they saw it was a knife."

The eyewitness told LancsLive that around five to six minutes after seeing him wander off, she she saw him allegedly emerge driving a window cleaning van. The eyewitness continued: "We thought he had just gone into the services, but we had just let him go at that point because he was shouting saying he's OK.

"The lorry driver said his eyes were popping out of his head. I didn't know where the van was, but I just saw him drive off and then another driver came onto the hard shoulder to say they saw the whole thing, that he witnessed the Audi driver