National Highways teams working this Christmas to keep East Midlands motorists from being “top to toe in tailbacks”

While Christmas jumpers and wrapping presents will be the order of day for thousands of motorists, frontline teams from the organisation responsible for running England’s major A-road and motorway network will be working around the clock over the holiday period to help make sure any disruption is kept to a minimum.

Last year National Highways traffic officers attended almost 400 incidents on England’s motorways and major A-road network on Christmas Day according to organisational data released today.

In the East Midlands, there were 29 incidents ranging from breakdowns and collisions to debris and weather events.

Traffic Officer Adrian Woods, of Atherstone, is one of a team of frontline staff working on Christmas Day.

He’ll spend the morning at home with his fiancé and pet cats before visiting family and will then be on the 2pm to 10pm shift, ready to help the region’s road users who may run into trouble and keep traffic moving.

Adrian Woods will be patrollng on Christmas Day ready to deal with any incidents and keep traffic moving

Adrian, who is based at the Watford Gap outstation in Northamptonshire which covers the M1 between junctions 15 and 21, the M6 up to Rugby, the M45, A14, A43 and A45, said:

“In most respects it’s just a normal day for us, ready to deal with whatever incidents come our way. The crews will try and meet up wherever possible, otherwise you’re out on your own all day, and we’ll get together at the end of a shift for a buffet, but that’s the only real difference.

“The roads still get busy, and as usual we’ll be here 24/7 to assist our customers.

“I’ve worked four of the last six Christmases and fortunately there haven’t been any major incidents in my patch but we do see a fair few RTCs and breakdowns. The breakdowns are usually caused by people running out of fuel which is why we always ask people to plan their journey by using our handy TRIP advice.”

TRIP is National Highways’ handy acronym to help people consider what they need to do before setting off on a long journey:

Top up – fuel, oil, screenwash

Rest – every two hours

Inspect – tyres

Prepare – for weather

Whenever there is an incident, Adrian's priority is to keep people safe.  He will also stop traffic to clear obstructions and spills, help remove broken-down vehicles, and support the police and other emergency services by managing road closures when there’s a serious incident.  Traffic Officers, who are usually first on scene after an incident, work hand-in-hand with colleagues in one of seven regional control centres respond to emergency calls, setting signs and signals and deploying resources where needed. They also liaise with the emergency services during incidents and provide live traffic updates via social media.  

This year Adrian and his traffic officer colleagues across the East Midlands will be supported by a team in the Regional Operations Centre just off the M1 at junction 26 near Nottingham.

That team will be headed up by Duty Operations Manager Mark Munnoch, who will be on call for 48 hours but in the control room dressed as Santa from 8am to 4pm on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Mark, who lives near Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, has worked in the control room for the last 14 years and this will be his fifth time working Christmas Day. He, his wife and their 13-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son will get their family Christmas on December 28.

Operations Manager Mark Munnoch will be at the helm of the East Midlands Regional Operations Centre on Christmas Day.

He said:

“The roads can be surprisingly busy on Christmas Day. There’s less HGVs but many more cars full of people visiting families. The morning tends to be fairly steady but it picks up in the afternoon before tailing off again in the evening.

“There’s usually a good atmosphere in the control room. We try and make it as festive as possible as we all have families at home we’ve been pulled away from.

Our families are all very supportive though. They understand we have a role to play in keeping people safe.

“You never know what to expect and our staff, both out on-road and in control rooms, will be on hand 24/7 and ready to respond to all eventualities to ensure  everyone using our network gets to where they need to.

“Unfortunately, we have had some major incidents in the past which can make the mood understandably sombre but luckily they are few and far between unlike breakdowns which are commonplace yet preventable.

“We urge everyone to carry out basic checks before setting off such as topping up their fuel, water and oil and making sure their tyres are correctly inflated and their lights working.”

For more information on driving safely including tips on looking after your tyres and how to keep oil levels topped up, head online to https://nationalhighways.co.uk/road-safety/