Abandoned boat and fairground ride among more than 49,000 items found alongside motorways and A roads

More than 49,000 objects were collected by National Highways teams from motorways and major A roads between 1 January and 30 September.

Drivers are being urged not to use the roadside as a dumping ground and to ensure their loads are safely secured.

Caption: An abandoned boat was spotted by traffic officers on the A42 in Leicestershire.

The boat was spotted far from open water on the side of the A42 near Measham, Leicestershire in July, while an officer came across a fairground ride in a verge along the M180 near Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire last month.

Traffic officer Cat Martin, who discovered the abandoned boat on top of a damaged trailer with her partner Dave Wilkinson, said:

“It was a surprise to see something of this size on the side of a slip road, causing a distraction and obstruction to drivers. It’s fortunate it did not cause a serious accident.

“You would think someone would be missing their boat, but we were unable to locate the owner and so it made its way to the scrapyard as soon as we could get it safely removed.”

Caption: A fairground ride was retrieved from a verge on the M180 in November.

National Highways traffic officers often have to close lanes or carriageways to remove large items and experience first-hand the negative impact obstructions can have on drivers and their safety.

In the west midlands, most of the items picked up by National Highways this year were vehicle parts with 1,037 found in total, followed by 830 building or construction materials and 1,386 items listed as ‘unknown’ or ‘other’.

Top 5 obstructions in the West Midlands – 1 Jan to 30 Sept 2025

Rank	Type	Number of incidents	% number of incidents
1	Vehicle parts / accessories	1,037	18.8
2	Building/construction	830	15.1
3	Unknown	730	13.3
4	Other	656	11.9
5	Straps	573	10.4
	Total	5,509

Across the country, most of the items picked up by National Highways this year were building or construction materials with 9,685 found in total, followed by vehicle parts or accessories and tyres.

Other items officers dealt with over the same period include 3,575 household or garden items, 3,087 animal fatalities and 797 abandoned vehicles.

A sofa, storage container, Christmas trees and bikes are among other obstructions and shed loads rescued by traffic officers directly from the carriageways.

Top 5 obstructions across the network - 1 Jan to 30 Sept 2025

Rank	Type	Number of incidents
1	Building/construction	9,685
2	Vehicle parts /accessories	8,565
3	Tyres	4,606
4	Other	4,438
5	Unknown	4,104

Figures from National Highways show most incidents logged this year have been on the M6 and M1, followed by the M25, M5 and M62.

Of the items collected, most of them (9,795) have been discovered on carriageways in the north west region, followed by the south east with 8,733 items and east of the country with 8,357.

Top 10 roads for obstructions – 1 Jan to 30 Sept 2025

Rank	Road name	Number of incidents	% number of incidents
1	M6	5,605	11.4
2	M1	5,185	10.5
3	M25	3,626	7.4
4	M5	3,559	7.2
5	M62	2,647	5.4
6	M4	2,465	5.0
7	A1/M	2,043	4.2
8	M40	1,483	3.0
9	M60	1,477	3.0
10	M3	1,259	2.6

Marie Biddulph, Regional Safety Programme Manager at National Highways, said:

“These items left on or alongside our roads can put drivers at risk, while retrieving them often leads to a road or lanes being closed, causing an inconvenience to other motorists. 

“Our message is simple – dispose of your unwanted items in the correct way and secure your loads properly before you set out on your journey. Following these measures could prevent a collision and avoids unwelcome objects from blighting the environment along our roadsides.”

More information about National Highways’ road safety campaigns is available on our website here.