An 18-year-old man has sadly passed away following a collision on the M5 near Bristol

An 18-year-old man has sadly passed away following a collision on the M5 last night (November 30).

Avon and Somerset Police were made aware at 11.04pm by the ambulance service that a patient had excited ambulance that had stopped on the northbound carriageway between Junction 21 (Weston-super-Mare) and Junction 20 (Clevedon) while taking them to hospital.

The patient was subsequently reported to be on the motorway.

An on-duty officer came across the incident and attempted to bring the patient to safety to reduce the risk to him as well as to other members of the public.

But unfortunately, shortly after, the 18-year-old was involved in a collision with a car being driven southbound, and died at the scene despite the efforts of emergency services personnel.

His family have been updated and are being supported by a specially trained liaison officer.

Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall said: "Our thoughts are with the man's family at such a devastating time. We will support them in any way we can.

"This incident has had a significant effect on our officers and ambulance crews who are understandably incredibly upset by what happened.

"As well as providing support to the man’s family, we are also making sure that the appropriate welfare arrangements are in place for our staff and also for those members of the public who were either directly involved or who witnessed the incident.

“A mandatory referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) by our Professional Standards Department. It’s already begun an independent investigation into the circumstances, which we will fully cooperate with.”

The M5 was closed until this morning to allow emergency services to respond to the incident, and to allow enquiries to take place at the scene.