The Highways Agency has announced that it is continuing with measures to reduce the carbon footprint of the UK's motorway network.

A section of the M6 in Lancashire is the seventh location to be chosen for a targeted switch-off, which will see the lighting on the motorway turned off between midnight and 5am.

Since the scheme was launched in March last year, Kent, Berkshire, Hampshire, Devon and Avon and Somerset have all participated in the programme.

The switch-off is controlled by an automatic timing device; however the regional control centre has the ability to override the system.

Andy Withington, the Highways Agency's area performance manager for south Lancashire, said that the measure is expected to produce savings of up to 40 per cent on carbon emissions from the stretch of road.

"This site has been carefully chosen because traffic flows are relatively low here in the early hours," he added.

The announcement is the second boost for green transport this week, as Stagecoach rolled out 15 new green buses onto the streets of Oxford yesterday (July 15th).