A STRETCH of lighting on a Midlands motorway will be turned off between midnight and 5am in a move to reduce carbon emissions and light pollution.

From Tuesday, a 10-mile section of the M5 between Junctions 4a at the M42 interchange and Junction 6 near Worcester will be switched off for five hours a day.

The motorway junctions and their approaches will remain lit.

Staff in the Highways Agency’s control centres at Quinton have the ability to override the switch-off mechanism, and will leave lights on should severe weather be forecast on these parts of the strategic road network overnight.