IT is a vital part of West Yorkshire’s transport network.

But in recent weeks, the M62 straddling the hills above Huddersfield has often seemed to be more of a giant car park.

The busy motorway has been shut many times as a result of crashes and that has left thousands of drivers fuming quietly, or not so quietly, in their cars.

But police chiefs have today insisted that the safety of people working on the motorway has to be their number one priority when dealing with accidents, hence the reason for the shutdown.

They argue that if lanes were kept open, people would be put at risk unnecessarily.

And certainly few of us would relish taking the place of an emergency worker trying to clear up after a crash if other vehicles were hurtling past at 70mph and often more.

There is a need for the police and other emergency services to be able to do their work efficiently and safely and if that means traffic hold-ups for the rest of us, it is something we have to learn to live with.