THERE are no plans to replace the motorway barriers wrecked in Monday’s M62 pile-up.

A lorry smashed through a section of the metal barriers between junctions 24, Ainley Top, and 25, Brighouse, after crashing into a car on the eastbound carriageway at about noon on Monday.

It then collided with another car on the westbound side, overturned and shed its load of containers.

Both carriageways were completely closed for most of the afternoon, causing hours of delays for motorists.

Urgent barrier repairs were carried out late into Monday night.

The incident happened shortly after a major programme to replace metal barriers with concrete ones between junctions 25 and 28.

They are designed to stop vehicles going through the central reservation.

But a Highways Agency spokeswoman said there was no intention of carrying out similar work at the scene of Monday’s accident.

She said: “These barriers are in a serviceable condition and we would only look to replace them as they approach the end of their serviceable life.

“The Highways Agency regularly inspects all of its assets and, when appropriate, these are prioritised for renewal or repair.

“The new concrete central reservation barriers, which have been installed on the M62 between Junction 25 and 28, reduce the risk of vehicles involved in accidents crossing from one side of the motorway to the other.

“It is not possible to say whether this type of barrier would have prevented yesterday’s incident from occurring.”

During Monday’s incident, commuters in Huddersfield were caught up in severe hold-ups as traffic tried to avoid the motorway.

And Kirklees Council has revealed its contingency plans were thrown into disarray after an 82-year-old woman was knocked down by a lorry on one of the town’s main roads.

A spokesman said: “We work closely with organisations including the emergency services and Highways Agency when an incident occurs which has an impact on traffic.

“Contingency plans are in place to reduce problems on the roads and, as a partnership, we can react quickly to different circumstances.

“In the event of motorway closures we have pre-agreed diversions and on Monday this was via Bradford Road.

“Unfortunately, there was then a serious road traffic incident which meant Bradford Road needed to be closed.

“This left us with closures on both the M62 and one of our main arterial roads.”

The woman, who was knocked down at the junction of Willow Lane at about 3pm, suffered serious leg injuries and was flown by air ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary.

She has had an operation on her legs and is in a stable condition.

West Yorkshire Police is investigating the incident.