A witness appeal has been launched after a man in his 30s died following a crash on the M1 near to the junction for St Albans during the early hours of this morning.

A black Ford Galaxy was travelling northbound when it crashed into the central reservation and came to halt on the central verge between Junctions 6 for St Albans and 6a (M25 interchange), near to Bricket Wood.

The driver, a man in his 30s, was taken to hospital where he sadly died a short time later.

Police believe only one vehicle was involved, but it is not clear how the crash occurred.

Sergeant James Wood, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Road Policing Unit, said: "Our thoughts are very much with the family of the driver at what is a very distressing time for them. We have launched an investigation in order to determine how the collision occurred.

"We believe the vehicle travelled up from Junction 1 so we would be very keen to hear from anyone travelling on that stretch of motorway who thinks they saw the vehicle prior to the collision.

"If you have a dash cam fitted to your vehicle and believe you may have captured the Ford Galaxy on your footage earlier this morning, then we would really like to speak to you."

You can report information online at herts.police.uk/report, speak to an operator in the police's force communications room via an online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or call the non-emergency number 101 quoting ISR 51 of 26 August.

Alternatively, you can stay 100 per cent anonymous by contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via the the independent charity's untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.