§ 57. Mr. Cockeramasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will instruct motorway maintenance staff, when needing to close one lane, to limit such closure to a miximum of one mile at a time and when needing to close two lanes to limit such closure to three-quarters of a mile at a time;
(2) if he is aware that there was a queue of vehicles 1é miles long and three lanes wide on Monday, 24th April on the M6 near Stafford because of repairs to the motorway causing single line traffic for 1.6 miles; and if he will give a direction to motorway maintenance staff to limit single line working to three-quarters of a mile.
§ Mr. Speed:I regret the delays which occurred on the M6. Every effort is made to minimise delays consistent with efficient working and safety. I do not believe it would be helpful to give arbitrary instructions as to working lengths because of widely varying operations and circumstances.