POLICE have shared shocking footage which shows the moment a patrol car nearly slammed into a driver who ignored a motorway road block. 

Officers responding to a serious incident on the M61 yesterday afternoon closed the road after reports a man had fallen from a bridge. 

As emergency services raced to the scene, near to junction five for Westhoughton, an unmarked police car attempted to hold traffic. 

The man driving the Citroen passed the road block four times before the 20 second clip, which shows him trying to undertake the car, swerving straight into the path of an oncoming patrol car. 

A spokesman for GMP said: "It's hard enough to implement a motorway block on the best of days but then sometimes there's always one driver who thinks this doesn't apply to them.

"This puts the safety of everyone on the motorway in danger.

"The unmarked police vehicle had implemented a road block on the M61, but the Citroen breached it on 4 occasions as they thought it didn't apply to them.

"Even when almost rammed into the central reservation by the patrol it still tried to drive around until the patrol came to help." 

As officers were racing to the scene, there wasn't time to issue a TOR to the driver. 

They were given some "very direct words of advice" and had their keys removed from them. 

A man was taken to hospital with serious injuries after the fall.

All lanes of the M61 were closed on the southbound carriageway, near to junction five for Westhoughton, at around 2pm.

Motorists stuck in the delays were urged to be patient, with drivers asked to find another route where possible.

Officers confirmed that lanes two and three of the carriageway reopened shortly before 2.50pm, with the remaining closures lifted shortly before 4.30pm.