Two air ambulances landed on a busy motorway following a major crash which has left a child fighting for their life.

Emergency services flooded the M1 on Saturday evening after a grey Hyundai i30 crashed into a barrier on the northbound junction 8 slip road (Hemel Hempstead) around 6.20pm.

Hertfordshire Constabulary says an 11-year-old suffered life threatening injuries and a 66-year-old woman, a passenger, suffered serious injuries.

Both were taken to hospital.

Two others in the car sustained minor injuries.

Traffic was held by police to allow two air ambulances to land at the scene, resulting in gridlock back to J6a until vehicles were released just after 7pm.

Watford Observer: Traffic was held on the M1 (photo BCH Road Policing)Traffic was held on the M1 (photo BCH Road Policing)

The slip road remained closed for several hours after to allow for investigations at the scene.

Officers are appealing to anyone who may have been in the area and saw the incident or has dashcam footage of what happened to contact police.

Information can be reported online at herts.police.uk/report, or by calling the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference ISR 578 of 1 May.