A HAMPSHIRE teenager accused of throwing "flammable material" onto the M3, bringing it to a standstill for more than 11 hours, is due in court today.

The 17-year-old from Winchester, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is set to appear at Winchester Crown Court this afternoon.

He faces two charges of arson with intent to endanger life and two charges of causing danger to road users.

The teenager is also accused of two charges of blackmailing a school for payments of £10,000 in bitcoin, as well as eight burglary charges and two theft offences.

It follows two incidents on the M3 in September.

One of the incidents, on Saturday, September 23, led to police closing the M3 off for more than 11 hours.

Bomb disposal experts were called to investigate the “potentially hazardous material” that was thrown onto the carriageway from a motorway bridge between junctions 9 and 11.

It was later discovered to be flammable but not explosive.

Officer later confirmed that a similar incident happened on the same motorway bridge at about 4am on Saturday, September 16.