ROADS GET MAGNET TREATMENT

From the whatever-will-they-think-of-next department, comes this story. Motorways and trunk roads in the south-east are being kept safe with the help of a giant magnet.

The magnet, attached to a mechanical road sweeper, collects metal that has fallen from passing vehicles, which may pose a safety hazard to road users.

With more than three tonnes of nails, spanners, wheel nuts, money and more being collected from the M4, M3 and A34 in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire so far, the new road sweeper helps roads to stay as safe as possible.

The road sweeper, supplied by Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Services, is being used everyday and has covered more than 32,000 km on the hard shoulders of various motorways and trunk roads.

It is equipped with a bar magnet, a high-powered brush, a high pressure washing system and nozzle.

"The large bar magnet makes this an extremely useful machine which is helping us to improve safety for road users," said the Highways Agency's Angela Koenig. "The road sweeper completes four actions in one, sweeping, litter picking, cleaning gullies and picking up metal objects."