A34 closed at East Ilsley after combine harvester falls off lorry

UPDATE: 2.15pm - The A34 has now reopened.

The A34 is currently closed through part of West Berkshire after a combine harvester fell off the back of a lorry.

It is currently completely blocking the northbound carriageway at East Ilsley.

The road is shut between the East Ilsley and West Ilsley turn offs.

There is heavy congestion going northbound from the M4 at junction 13 for Chieveley and slow traffic coming south past the incident.

Delays of around 30 minutes are being experienced

National Highways said its traffic officers were on the scene and recovery of the combine harvester was being arranged.

It added that it expected the road to be reopened around 11.30am, but it could take a further hour for traffic to get back to normal.

One person has posted on Facebook to say that the vehicle has got stuck under a sign and its blades are across the whole carriageway.

Just before noon, National Highways posted on X (formerly Titter): “The #A34 in #Berkshire remains closed northbound between the #M4 (#Chieveley) & the #A4185 (#Chilton) due to a header which has fallen from the back of a tractor and is blocking the road.

“A recovery operation is ongoing at scene and we'll be arranging repairs to the sign.”