A34 reopens after lorry fire near Chieveley
A stretch of a main route in Berkshire which was closed following a early hours lorry fire on Monday has fully reopened.
The fire, involving a transporter lorry, happened on the A34 on Monday at about 03:30 BST, closing the road in both directions between the M4 at junction 13 (Chieveley) to the A339.
National Highways said the road southbound had reopened after overnight resurfacing works were finished shortly before 05:15. The northbound carriageway reopened on Monday.
Thames Valley Police said there were no reports of injuries.
A bridge where the lorry came to rest also had to be assessed by a structural engineer before the road could be repaired.
Drivers faced queues of over three miles due (5km) due to the closure, with disruption also affecting motorists in Oxfordshire.
You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
National Highways
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Twix ad banned for encouraging unsafe driving
A TV ad for chocolate bar Twix has been banned for encouraging unsafe driving. The advert shows a man with flowing hair involved in a car chase and crash that results in his and an identical, caramel-coloured car sandwiched on top of each other, like a Twix. Five complaints issued against the advert said it encouraged dangerous driving and was irresponsible. Mars-Wrigley, who own Twix, argued that the ad had a "cinematic presentation" and was set in a "world that was absurd, fantastical and removed from reality", which Clearcast, the non-governmental organisation that approves adverts before broadcast, echoed. But the watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled the ad "must not appear again" in its current form because it "condoned unsafe driving". While the ASA acknowledged that the stunt performed highlighted the fantastical nature of the advert, it took issue with the first half of the video that showed driving "that appeared likely to breach the legal requirements of the Highway Code". It said there was an "emphasis on speed" including with "fast paced beat and music" in the car chase, noting the "visible skid marks" left on the road. Mars defended the advert, saying "the cars were shot driving at lawful speeds and any emulation would only reflect the legal and safe driving presented". The sweet giant, who also own M&Ms, Celebrations and Maltesers, added that Twix is known for its absurd and playful humour, which was reflected in the advert. The final scene shows a Twix bar falling through the sunroofs of the two cars, before they drive off - still attached - and with the tagline "two is more than one". For its part, Clearcast told the ASA that the style of the video made it clear it wasn't meant to be emulated nor did it suggest "safe driving was boring." In the ASA's ruling, it said it told Mars "not to condone or encourage irresponsible driving that was likely to breach the legal requirements of the Highway Code in their ads." Mars phases out controversial colour additive in Skittles Man who found smooth Mars bar gets £2 compensation Steven Bartlett nutrition adverts banned for being misleading
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Ricardo Builds a Smarter, Simpler EV Motor That's Easier on the Planet
Most electric vehicle motors today rely on rare earth materials—like neodymium and cobalt—that are expensive to mine and tough on both the environment and global supply chains. Add in the use of copper, which is energy-intensive to produce, and it's clear there's room for improvement in how we build the motors that power the future. Ricardo, a UK-based engineering firm known for its sustainability chops, is stepping up with something refreshingly different: a new electric propulsion motor called Alumotor. What makes it special? It skips the rare earths and copper entirely. Alumotor isn't just a clever name — it's also the core of the design. Instead of copper, Ricardo's team used lightweight aluminum for the motor's hairpin windings. That makes the unit less resource-intensive, easier to recycle, and more cost-effective to produce. Even with those changes, performance didn't take a hit. In fact, this oil-cooled synchronous reluctance motor delivers up to 214kW of power and over 92% efficiency—numbers that stack up well against many traditional EV motors. That kind of output is a great match for light commercial vehicles and off-highway applications, and it's flexible enough to scale across other platforms, too. This is more than just a lab experiment. Ricardo's motor has already been tested and shown promising real-world results. And because it doesn't rely on rare or conflict-prone materials, it could help make EVs more sustainable, more affordable, and easier to build at scale. For everyday drivers, that could mean cleaner vehicles with lower production emissions and fewer worries about global material shortages affecting what shows up at the dealership. Plus, innovations like this help EVs go from being 'just greener than gas' to genuinely better-built machines from the inside out. Ricardo unveiled the motor at the 2025 Materials and Manufacturing Showcase in London, where it got a lot of attention — not just for its design, but for what it represents: a smarter way to build the vehicles of tomorrow. The company's engineering team, led by Dr. Dragica Kostic-Perovic, is already thinking ahead to how this design can move into market-ready products. If you're someone who's curious about where electric vehicles are headed—and how they're being made — this is one of those behind-the-scenes developments that really moves the needle.
Wall Street Journal
7 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
TNB Tech Minute: Huawei Founder Downplays Impact of U.S. Export Controls - Tech News Briefing
Full Transcript This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated. Victoria Craig: Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Tuesday, June 10th. I'm Victoria Craig for the Wall Street Journal. The founder of Chinese Telecom equipment maker Huawei, has dismissed worries that the company will be squeezed by U.S. export controls. In an interview with the People's Daily, a government mouthpiece, Huawei's founder said The firm is finding workarounds to improve its chip performance, which are still one generation behind those made by its U.S. peers. He was also upbeat on China's AI industry saying that the country's electric grid capacity is a solid foundation for AI development. You can hear more about how U.S. companies are fighting potential roadblocks to competitiveness with China on data center power in tomorrow's Tech News Briefing podcast right here in this feed. Elsewhere, Uber and self-driving car startup Wayve Technologies are launching trials of fully autonomous vehicles on public roads in London. They chose the British capital because its road layouts and traffic laws are significantly different from U.S. locations where testing has so far been done. There's no targeted date for trials to begin. The U.K.'s Transportation Secretary said the government is fast-tracking pilots of self-driving cars to next spring. Uber and Wayve said the London tests will make it easier to deploy autonomous vehicles across European markets. And finally, the Journal exclusively reports several U.S. government agencies tracked foreign nationals coming and going to Elon Musk's properties in 2022 and 2023 according to people familiar with the matter. An investigation by Homeland Security and the Justice Department focused on people visiting the tech billionaire from Eastern European nations and others who might've been trying to influence him. Until last week, Musk was one of President Trump's closest advisors. The current status of the investigation couldn't be determined. As chief executive of SpaceX, which has worked with national security agencies for years, Musk has top secret security clearance, which gives him access to some national security secrets. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Wednesday's Tech News Briefing podcast.
