A motorist has died following a collision on the A42 northbound near Ashby.

Leicestershire Police have confirmed details of the incident.

Highways England earlier reported that one of the vehicles had caught fire.

A police statement said: "The collision happened at around 2.45am today (Wednesday 14 October) between junctions 12 and 13 and involved two vehicles - a van and a lorry.

"The driver of the van was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

"No one else was injured in the incident.

"The A42 remains closed between the two junctions to allow for an investigation of the scene."

Police have issued an appeal to anyone who may have witnessed the incident to make contact.

DC John Borlase is from the force's Serious Collision Investigation Unit and he said: "We would like to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the collision itself or saw either of the vehicles beforehand.

"If you have dashcam installed in your vehicle and captured what happened please get in touch."

Anyone with information can call 101 quoting incident 39 of 14 October.

Earlier today (Wednesday) Highways England gave details of the closure on that stretch of the dual carriageway.

The A42 has been closed northbound between Junction 12 (B5006, Willesley Park) and Junction 13 (A511, Ashby-De-La-Zouch) due to a collision and vehicle fire.

Delays are likely on approach to the closures, with additional journey times also expected on diversion routes.

Traffic is being diverted via local routes by emergency services at the scene which means there is likely to be congestion through Ashby town centre.

Motorists travelling from further away are being advised to divert and use the M1 northbound.

UPDATE: Leicestershire Police said the road was still closed at 1545 today.