Police shut the M5 in Somerset on 13 June 2026 after multiple drivers reported seeing a person running across the active carriageway, bringing traffic to a standstill between Taunton and Bridgwater for more than an hour. The closure hit both directions on one of the South West’s main motorway links during the morning travel period.
Avon and Somerset Police said they received the first distress calls shortly after 6:15 AM, then stopped traffic and put a full closure in place between Junction 25 at Taunton and Junction 24 at Bridgwater South. One motorist told police they were being held while a helicopter was sent in because the reported person could not be found and officers needed help locating him before anything else happened.
That is why the m5 taunton closure drew immediate attention. The stretch carries heavy commuter and freight traffic and, as with much of the Somerset section, surrounding agricultural land and embankments can make it hard to contain a search once the road is shut. Drivers on both northbound and southbound lanes were left queued for miles while officers and the National Police Air Service searched the area.
By 8:26 AM, police said the active hunt had ended after searches with the National Police Air Service proved negative. In a statement, Avon and Somerset Police said traffic was initially halted and then a closure was put in place, and that the searches had been carried out with air support but found nothing. National Highways then began reopening the carriageways after the all-clear was given.
What remains unanswered is whether the person reported on the motorway was ever identified, or whether the initial calls were a false alarm. For drivers stranded in the queue, though, the outcome was immediate: a major route was locked down in the middle of the morning rush, and it took more than an hour before the M5 began to move again.
