Channel 5 show to focus on National Highways’ work in the North West

A wheel falls off a lorry and hits a car leaving its three occupants badly shaken on the M62 near Rochdale.

That's just one of many North West incidents to feature in the new series of The Motorway - the behind the scenes look at the work of National Highways - which starts on Channel 5 on Wednesday, 1 May.

The series coincides with the 20th anniversary of National Highway's traffic officer front-line service, which first went live on 26 April 2004.

The incident on the M62 between junctions 21 and 22 happened last January as a family were driving home from a shopping trip to Chester.

Traffic officers Sharon Mitchell and Tony Monaghan from the Milnrow outstation were despatched to the scene within four minutes to find the lorry on the hard shoulder and the car 500 metres ahead in the middle of the carriageway with the driver and two passengers stood behind the safety barrier.

Traffic Officer Sharon Mitchell. Photo courtesy of Channel 5/Fearless Television

Sharon, who has been a traffic officer for five years, said:

"It was a freak accident. The family were very lucky not to have been hurt. They were obviously very shaken up by what had happened but they did the right thing by getting behind the safety barrier. The car was badly damaged but driveable so I was able to put it on the hard shoulder, and we called for back-up to help remove the heavy wheel and sweep up other debris from the collision so we could reopen the road as quickly as possible.

"While it must have been a very frightening experience for them, the important thing is they walked away from it. We were glad we were able to help them by getting the lorry driver's details for their insurance and arranging recovery to get them home."

Traffic Officers Sharon Mitchell and Tony Monaghan at the scene of the M62 incident. Photo courtesy of Channel 5/Fearless Television

The incident can be seen in the first episode of series four of the popular documentary which runs for ten weeks.

Crews from production company Fearless Television spent four months filming with traffic officers, control room operators, maintenance crews, customer service teams, safety representatives and contractors across the North West and West Midlands for the show. It's the third time the North West has featured in the programme.

National Highways staff can be seen dealing with multi-vehicle collisions, car fires, breakdowns and debris. The programme also follows maintenance crews as they carry out grass cutting and litter picking and features the team responsible for taking calls from the public in the customer contact centre.  

National Highways Customer Service Director Andy Butterfield said:

"With an average of four million journeys taking place on our network every day it's safe to say our traffic officers and regional operations centre staff have assisted a phenomenal amount of customers both at the roadside and behind the scenes over the last two decades.

"Safety is our number one priority; it underpins everything we do and as custodian of England's motorways and major A-roads, National Highways wants 
everyone using or working on our roads to get home reliably and safely. Our frontline teams play a vital role on our roads helping to make that happen and the latest series of The Motorway demonstrates perfectly how they do that, often in challenging circumstances. We hope people enjoy watching."

Amanda Murray, Executive Producer and founder of Fearless TV, said:

"In the 20th year of the Traffic Officer service it's a great privilege to be able to experience the incredible work that goes on day and night out on our motorways. We are constantly amazed and impressed by the care and extraordinary efforts the traffic officers go to to keep us safe and come to our rescue when things go wrong. Bringing the experience of what it's really like out on The Motorways to the Channel 5 audience, and the detail of what it takes to keep our motorways running safely, is a challenge that is only possible through the support of National Highways and the passion of the traffic officers."

Commissioning Editor, Channel 5 and Paramount +, Lucy Willis, said:

"We're delighted that The Motorway continues to draw a wide audience and is coming back for a fourth run on Channel 5. With privileged access, this entertaining series takes us into the fascinating inner workings of National Highways, one of Britain's most important organisations, to bring us dramatic, heart-warming and engaging TV."
The Motorway can be seen on Channel 5 at 8pm on Wednesdays from 1 May and is also available on My5.  

Notes to Editors

National Highways is the wholly government-owned company responsible for modernising, maintaining and operating England's motorways and major A roads.

Real-time traffic information for England'smotorways and major A roads is available via the Traffic England website, local and national radio travel bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile apps. Local Twitter services are also available.

For further information please contact National Highways' press office (24hrs) on 0844 693 1448 and select the most appropriate option:

Option 1: National enquiries (9am to 5.30pm) and out of hours for urgent enquiries
Option 2: North West (9am to 5.30pm)
Option 3: Yorkshire and North East (9am to 5.30pm)
Option 4: West Midlands (9am to 5.30pm)
Option 5: East Midlands (9am to 5.30pm)
Option 6: East (9am to 5.30pm)
Option 7: South East (9am to 5.30pm)
Option 8: South West (9am to 5.30pm)

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