Emergency phones on side of motorways failed on Christmas Day

Drivers were put at risk after emergency phones on the side of motorways failed across large parts of the country yesterday.

Phones in the northeast, northwest, East Midlands and east of England were all affected from the early morning.

National Highways said they were experiencing some 'technology issues', but road users were still able to use their mobile phone to call the customer contact centre in an emergency.

A spokesperson for National Highways later confirmed the issue was resolved by around 4.45pm, it was reported in The Times.

Jon Allen, the national network manager at National Highways, said traffic officers were 'patrolling our road network' and would 'stop and go to the assistance of any vehicle breakdown'.

National Highways said the 'very vast majority' of breakdown calls received were made from a mobile phone, according to The Times.

They also assured people that no 'safety-critical technology' failed while the systems were down.