A crash on the M1 in which two drivers were killed was caused by a pensioner going the wrong way, police confirmed on Friday.

Officers believe he had earlier driven on the wrong side of another motorway.

Leonard Sandison, age 69, from Congresbury, near Bristol, left the Watford Gap motorway services in Northamptonshire on the wrong slip road.

He was killed in a head-on collision with a car travelling northbound on the M1.

Motorway shut

The other motorist who died has been named as 50-year-old Safdar Ali of Chapeltown, Leeds.

The motorway was shut for several hours after the accident on Christmas Eve.

The two drivers were the only occupants of the cars.

The Northamptonshire coroner has been informed.

A police spokesman said officers believed Mr Sandison had earlier joined the M45 on the wrong side of the motorway.