NEW signs that will let drivers know where they are if they break down are being put on the M62.

Information on the signs will help the Government’s Highways Agency, the emergency services and breakdown services to pinpoint where people are when they call for help.

The first piece of information given on the signs is the number of the motorway.

Then comes the letter A or B, which determines which direction you are travelling in.

On the M62 the A carriageway is eastbound and the B carriageway is westbound.

Drivers will also see the letters J and M on the signs. These represent the slip roads on and off the carriageway.

A figure underneath represents the distance in kilometres from the start of the motorway.

There is no need for drivers to understand what the information means.

They just have to relay what they see on the sign to the operator in the control room, be it for the Highways Agency, the emergency services or a recovery agent.

The signs will be 500 yards apart and on verges, near the hard shoulder.

Alan Mason, the agency’s operations manager, said: “We try to encourage people to use the orange roadside phones because that way we know exactly where they are.

“However, often people use their mobile phone.

“In these cases the driver location signs will allow us or the emergency services to pinpoint their exact location.”