UK's roadworks 'best in Europe'

Of the six UK roadworks sites in the 50-location survey, one was rated very good, four good and one acceptable, earning the UK the top position.

The UK sites actually comprised just three separate roadworks, with conditions being monitored in both the daytime and night-time.

The "very good" UK site was the Holmesdale Tunnel in its daytime "mode" on the M25 north of London which narrowly missed out to an Austrian site as the best in Europe.

In 1.7 million man-hours of work along the 1.7-mile stretch of road near Enfield, north London, there was not a single reportable incident.

The Holmesdale site was one of only three Europe-wide in the survey that got a "very good" rating.

Of the total European sites, 17 were good, 17 acceptable, 11 poor and two very poor. The UK's score of 83% sites which were rated good or very good compared with the European average of only 40%.

Information relating to the M1 roadworks near Rotherham, Yorkshire, was rated very poor for both day and night, while information at night on the M1 roadworks near Luton, Bedfordshire, was rated poor.

AA public affairs head Paul Watters said: "UK drivers loathe motorway roadworks but they are an unfortunate fact of life. At least we can take some comfort that, when we carry them out, we manage traffic and safety better than our European neighbours despite having some of the heaviest traffic.

"There is no room for complacency however and so the Highways Agency needs to keep improving control of and techniques at roadwork sites."