Support over allowing traffic to drive on motorway hard-shoulders is divided.

According to the AA, 50% of its members support the controlled use of the hard-shoulder as a running lane while 29% oppose the plans.

The survey of 12,000 AA drivers also found that 58% are opposed to the government’s plan to charge for solo drivers on these lanes.

AA president, Edmund King said: “It is quite controversial to improve motorway capacity by removing the hard shoulder.

"However, the pilot on the M42 has shown that schemes like this can dramatically improve traffic flow, journey time reliability and retain safety levels.”