Atherton’s brother arrested for M61 crash

ARRESTED . . . Chris Atherton

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THE FAILSWORTH brother of former England cricket captain Mike Atherton, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

Chris Atherton (38) is alleged to have collided with a Vauxhall Corsa, causing it to overturn, in a high-speed smash on the M61 two weeks ago, on Sunday, May 24.

Lay preacher Peter Rushton (64), from New Moston, was a passenger in the Corsa. He died at the scene.

The Corsa driver, a 48-year-old man, was badly injured and airlifted to Wythenshawe Hospital for treatment for broken bones.

Mr Atherton plays cricket for Woodhouses Cricket Club, the team in which his famous older brother began his cricket career.

The father of the sporting siblings, Alan, is the club’s treasurer and also lives in Failsworth, with his wife Wendy.

On the day of the accident, Chris Atherton, who runs a building firm, was due to play in a cup competition for Woodhouses.

He is reported to have been driving team-mates to the match in a white van when the accident happened.

He was arrested and questioned by officers before being released on police bail, until July 15, while an investigation into the crash is carried out.

The crash happened between junctions 4 and 5, near Bolton, on the north-bound carriageway at around 12.45pm.

Mr Rushton’s devastated family say the Methodist lay preacher was a popular figure in the local community.

His cousin, Christopher Howarth, said: “He was a retired registered nurse, who had specialised in community psychiatric nursing.

“He was an amateur radio enthusiast and enjoyed travelling the world and visited America, China and Egypt.”

Chris is an all-rounder at Woodhouses, which celebrated its centenary last year, and regularly turns out for their first 11 in the Lancashire League. Last year the team got to the semi-final of the nPower village cricket cup and were one match away from appearing at Lord’s.

Michael (41) launched his career at Woodhouses before achieving international success with Lancashire and England.

Police are appealing for witnesses, specifically the driver of a silver 4x4 towing a large flatbed trailer. They released a CCTV image of the vehicle, travelling on the motorway at the time.

PC Trevor Gibson, from GMP’s Traffic Network Section, said: “I want to stress that in no way do we believe this vehicle was involved in the crash.

“We simply want to speak to the driver, as we believe he or she may be a key witness and if so, they have valuable information that will assist our investigation. Please, if you were in this car, call us.”


Anyone with information is asked to call traffic police on 0161 856 1550.