Damaged pipe causes further lane closures on M1

Lane closures on the M1 will continue as engineers investigate what they now suspect is a damaged drainage pipe.

Restrictions were first put in place five weeks ago on 27 January between junction 12 at Toddington and junction 13 for Brogborough.

National Highways said it could not confirm when work would take place to fix what it had previously described as a "drainage defect".

A spokesperson said they were "working hard to resolve this issue on the M1" and it thanked motorists for their patience.

In September 2025 work was complete to replace the steel barriers in the central reservation, external to concrete between junctions 10 and 13 in Bedfordshire.

National Highways said that the stronger concrete barriers "significantly reduce the risk of vehicles crossing over from one carriageway to another, improving safety and reducing the duration of incident-related congestion".

However Chris Ames, a former deputy editor of Highways magazine who now runs the Transport Insights blog, said that "unfortunately, retrofitting can be problematic, as concrete is heavier and potentially changes the soil compression, as well as the drainage layout".

"The scheme also appears to have involved putting cabling in the central reservation, which could also have compromised drainage routes," he added.

"That would also make fixing it very problematic and costly, particularly if National Highways can't work out what went wrong."

National Highways said it could not comment as it was still investigating.

A spokesperson added that "work will be carried out as soon as possible".