Worst places to breakdown in the UK

BREAKING down anywhere on a motorbike can be rough but the M40 motorway has been identified as the worst place for recovery in the UK, along with the Aberdeenshire region of Scotland.

According to data released by startrescue.co.uk, these areas were the most difficult to reach due to traffic and weather conditions during the three coldest months of winter last year.

Aberdeenshire has long been a breakdown black-spot because of the 'hostile terrain' found in much of this area. Not only is this area mountainous (including part of the Cairngorm National Park), but it is also sparsely populated compared with some other parts of Scotland.

The M40 motorway, which stretches from Buckinghamshire to Birmingham, was identified as another challenging area for vehicle recovery teams. Even though the M40 is generally less busy than other main routes (such as the M1), there are fairly long stretches between junctions without slip roads and if there is a traffic jam, the recovery truck has to wait in the same traffic until it reaches the breakdown scene - or in special circumstances use the hard shoulder if the breakdown is causing a jam.

However, some areas that are unaffected include the M621, southwest of Leeds, or the M61, northwest of Manchester - both benefitting from average response times of 25 minutes.

What was your worst breakdown experience, and where did it occur?