A man has been arrested after police shut the M27 in both directions on Thursday morning.

The closure from 1.45am until 5am near Hedge End was due to an 'incident,' police initially said.

National Highways alerted the early morning drivers to the closure through its travel alerts on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Hampshire Constabulary has now confirmed that the M27 was shut while a 36-year-old man was arrested. 

It added that the 36-year-old was arrested on suspicion of assault in relation to an incident that occurred around 1am.

A spokesperson for the force said: "The motorway was closed between junctions 5 and 7 between 1.45am and 5am while police arrested a 36-year-old man from Brierfield, Lancashire, on suspicion of assault.

"The arrest was in relation to an incident that occurred just before 1am at an address on Allington Lane."

Police have been approached for the details of the Allington Lane incident.