Brighter and more cost efficient lights which last 25 YEARS have replaced sodium street lights along the M62 near Huddersfield.

Contractors working for Highways England worked with specialists to adapt technology used for architectural ornamental lighting, such as monuments and halls, for use on motorways and major A roads.

The improvement work took place along 12.6 miles of the M62 between Rishworth Moor and Brighouse and on the M621 near Leeds.

The LED lights are predicted to last 100,000 hours – about 25 years. This is eight times longer than old ones.

M62 Junction 24 to 25 section, Ainley Top area.

A total of 1,618 street lights have been replaced with more efficient LED lights.

A Highways England spokesman said the new lighting was 53% more efficient, saving the equivalent energy needed to power the homes of 20,000 people over the course of a year.

The project also included upgrading street lighting power supply equipment on both motorways and the installation of a system which allows contractors to remotely control the lights.

The newly-installed LED lights require no routine maintenance, which means less disruption for drivers.

Mark Ramsden, of Highways England, said: “We have replaced the conventional lighting with the newly developed lighting to provide bright, effective illumination to highways and road signs – reducing maintenance and road closures for drivers.”