A MAN has died following a crash on the M4 in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Police and paramedics were called to the incident in the westbound carriageway between junctions 17 and 18 at around 5am.

A Nissan Qashqai and a lorry had been involved in the crash and paramedics treated a number of casualties.

This afternoon, Wiltshire Police confirmed that there had also been one fatality. 

A spokesman for the force said: "Emergency services were called to the scene, near to Leigh Delamere services, shortly after 5am this morning following a collision involving a Nissan Qashqai and a lorry.

"A man, who was travelling in the Nissan, was pronounced deceased at the scene. Formal identification has not yet taken place. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.

"Two other males received injuries which are not believed to be life threatening."

All three westbound lanes of the M4 were closed between junctions 17 and 18 to allow specialist collision investigators to carry out their work.

Two lanes were reopened shortly after 4.30pm with the third lane expected to reopen once recovery work was completed.

Motorists travelling in the area have experienced long delays throughout the day.

Vehicles were diverted off the motorway at junction 17, via the A350, A420 and A46 before rejoining the M4 at junction 18.

All surrounding roads experienced severe congestion with slow moving traffic as a result.

On the M4 itself, traffic was queued for some distance from junction 17 with all three lanes at a near-standstill heading back towards junction 16 at Swindon. Some HGVs opted to park up on the hard shoulder and wait out the delays.

There were also long delays around junction 15 with drivers trying to leave the motorway in advance of the main hold up.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorectly reported that two people had died in the crash. This was amended as soon as the error came to light. We apologise for any distress that was caused.