AN ELDERLY woman was killed by an Iceland lorry on the M4 yesterday morning.

The motorway closed after the lorry, driving eastbound between junctions 11 and 10 hit the pedestrian just before 3am on Tuesday, October 11.

Police said the woman has not been formally identified but is thought to be a 66-year-old from Reading.

Her next of kin have been informed and the death is not being treated as suspicious. A file has been passed to the coroner.

The road reopened at 10.50am after motorists were trapped in stationary traffic for hours on end.

Inspector Andy Storey from roads policing said: “We would appeal to anyone who was driving on either the east or westbound carriageways of the M4 near Junction 11 at around 2.50am to contact Police as we are trying to determine the circumstances which led to a pedestrian being on the motorway."

The road was closed for nearly seven hours as emergency services and the highways authority dealt with the incident.

Highways England warned drivers to seek alternative routes through Reading or north to the M40 to avoid the closure.

The lorry driver was unhurt but was suffering from shock.

A spokesperson from Iceland said: “We can confirm that an Iceland vehicle was involved in an incident on the M4 in the early hours of this morning which led to a fatality.

"Our thoughts are naturally with the family of the deceased at this very sad time and also with our driver.  "We are unable to comment further until the police have completed their investigation into the incident.”