EMERGENCY services trying to respond to an incident were stopped by motorists who wanted to use a motorway's hard shoulder.

Late in the evening of Thursday, November 7 two police cars and an ambulance could not respond to a collision after motorists tried to use the slip road on the M3 J3 south in heavy traffic.

According to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, one police car was quickly on the scene but two others on the way to support were delayed by about 15 minutes.

The police said two people were given tickets at the scene for driving on the hard shoulder and more motorists will be receiving tickets through the post.

Emergency services had received reports of a collision involving four cars on the M3 near junction 11. No injuries were reported.

The police said: "We would ask motorists to only use the hard shoulder in emergencies, and not to use them just to try and avoid traffic and congestion."