A MAN was today critically ill after setting himself on fire and attempting to stab himself after parking his car on the hard shoulder of the M65.

Horrified commuters saw the man pull up between junction three at Hoghton and junction four at Darwen, before he stood on the westbound hard shoulder, doused himself in petrol and then set himself on fire.

The incident was also witnessed by Highways Transport officers who were patrolling the motorway at 8.30am yesterday. Police said the man, believed to be from the Blackpool area, set himself on fire and then got back in his car while he was alight.

The patrol officers used on-board extinguishers to put the flames out and the man had to be restrained after he threatened to stab the officers with a knife he was carrying.

The man was taken by air ambulance to the Royal Preston Hospital before being transferred to a specialist burns unit at Wythenshawe Hospital, near Manchester. A police spokesman said: "The man has sustained severe burns and is in a critical condition.

"Officers from the Highways Transport patrols, who are based at Warrington, were first on the scene as they had noticed that car had stopped on the hard shoulder.

"They saw the man deliberately pour petrol over himself before setting himself on fire.

"They alerted the emergency services to the incident and were able to extinguish the flames surrounding the man.

"He suffered 90 per cent burns and hospital staff have warned that the next few days will be critical.

"Firefighters from Darwen and Blackburn put out the fire that had spread to the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

"We are now in the process of trying to identify this man and contact his relatives. At this stage we have traced the vehicle back to an address in Lytham."