Tragic: Man dies as crane falls on to M25 in Buckinghamshire

A man has died after a cranecrashed on to the M25 in Buckinghamshire from a metre alongside it, police said. The man, who is believed to have fallen from the crane, died at the scene. Emergency services were called just after 09:20am after reports the crane had fallen on to the anti-clockwise carriageway, between junctions 16 and15. Lane one was closed and a Thames Valley police spokeswoman said it was likely to remain so “for some time.” There were currently queues back to junction 18, the A404, and the Highways Agency said there were delays of about 90 minutes. A spokeswoman said both the hard shoulder and lane one would remain closed until investigations had been completed. “The crane will then need to be removed from the hard shoulder beforethe road can safely be reopened to road users,” a statement said. “The Highways Agency is working withpartners to do this as soon as is safely possible.” An update from the Hertfordshire County Council traffic information centre said the lane was expected to reopen at about 3pm. A spokesman for the Health and SafetyExecutive (HSE) said it was aware of the incident and was making inquiries. He said two HSE inspectors would attend the scene. The Highway Agency said: “Road users are advised to plan their journeys before they set out, and to leave extra time if they are going to be affected by this work.”