Firefighters have been told they will be able to get to emergency scenes from the opposite carriageway of a motorway if they are struggling to get to an accident site, it has emerged.

The Highways Agency has said they will close the opposite lanes to enable firefighters and paramedics to get to the scene if needed.

The news comes after West Yorkshire fire chiefs held high-level talks with contractors carrying out major roadworks on the M62 in recent weeks.

Those talks came after it was revealed last month that a woman spent 20 minutes trapped in her car while fire crews battled to reach her in heavy traffic.

It is understood that firefighters could not make their way through the jams blocking all three lanes, which have been made narrower by the ‘managed motorway’ work being carried out on behalf of the Highways Agency between junctions 25 and 30.

An average fire engine is 2.5m wide and the usual lane width is 3.65m. But the lanes are at the bare legal minimum width while work is carried out, with the inside lane measuring 3.25 metres, the middle lane 3m and the outside lane 2.75m.

A 50mph speed limit is in force through the roadworks, which are due to be completed next year.

A Highways Agency spokesman stressed that the development was not a new one.

The spokesman said this week: “This is not a new development at all. If requested by the emergency services, the Highways Agency can support the closure of the opposite carriageway, to aid access, in the event of an incident anywhere on the network.

“The construction work on the M62 managed motorway scheme has not affected this option, and if in the future emergency services need access to an incident from the opposite carriageway, we can support with this.”

The update comes weeks after a husband and wife were killed in the roadworks when an articulated lorry toppled on to their car as they travelled to Manchester Airport for a holiday flight. The cause of that crash is still being investigated.

The Highways Agency has also said that there is an agreement and procedure in place for emergency services to use the works haul road (hard shoulder) to access incidents during the ‘managed motorway’ upgrade project if vehicles are unable or struggling to navigate the motorway itself.

“The Highways Agency has a dedicated 24/7 CCTV control room and traffic safety control officers who are available to liaise with the emergency services and grant access,” the spokesman said.

“We have a text alert system to notify our workforce out on the motorway in the event that the emergency services will use the haul route to ensure that it is clear and that our workers are safe.

“Emergency services personnel have been reminded of the existence of this agreement to aid responses to any future incidents that arise on the M62.”

Emergency services vehicles have to go at site speed when they use the hard shoulder.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said that the meeting was to “make sure that everybody was aware of procedures”.

“We never had to draw on those procedures very much in the past so this was a refresher,” the spokesman added.

“We wanted to make sure people are aware of it because the number of times we have had a major closure are very few and far between.

“We are just making sure that everybody knows what they ought to be doing.”