Motorway to reopen for play-off final fans

A road closure on the M181 will be lifted to allow football fans to get to Scunthorpe United's play-off final against Chester on Sunday, officials have confirmed.

The motorway will close in both directions at 20:00 BST on Friday, before the northbound carriageway reopens at 13:00 on Sunday for fans travelling to Glanford Park.

The southbound carriageway will reopen at 18:00 after the final whistle. A full closure of the road will then resume from 20:00 until 06:00 on Monday.

North Lincolnshire Council said the decision had been made after talks with National Highways, Humberside Police and the contractor.

Concerns were raised by football fans after the closure was announced on Wednesday.

In addition to the sold-out National League North play-off final, more than 1,000 runners are set to take part in the town's annual 10k race on Sunday.

Fears had been raised about the impact of the closure on the events and on traffic.

Council leader Rob Waltham said the situation had been "unfortunate" and the authority had listened to "the concerns of local residents, communities and businesses".

"Road closures are planned months in advance by all the teams involved and it is not always possible to know what events may be happening in the future," he said.

"We have been able to get the road reopened temporarily to allow football traffic to pass through, which will alleviate traffic in and around Scunthorpe."

The M181 closure will allow work on a £4.5m southern roundabout junction. The project, which started in 2020 and is due to finish this year, will connect a link road between the motorway and Scotter Road

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