§ Mr. Lomasasked the Minister of Transport how many direction or indication signs there are on the M1, in both the north-bound and south-bound carriageways, to each town or city with a population of 130,000 or less; why Huddersfield is shown only at Junction 38; and if he will take immediate steps to ensure that Huddersfield is more adequately signposted.
Mr. Bob Brown:It is necessary severely to limit the number of place names shown on motorway direction signs in order that they may be easily intelligible to drivers. Huddersfield only appears on signs at and on the approach to Junction 38 because at the northern end of the motorway the best route from Leeds to Huddersfield is via the A62 trunk road, and from the south it is 37W reasonable for drivers to be guided by the more important neighbouring destination of Leeds until they reach the appropriate intersection to leave the motorway.