UK motorways will see traffic lights installed for the very first time in an effort to reduce congestion.

Highway England will initiate the trial programme – set to cost £7m – in December.

The location selected for the trial is the Croft interchange near Warrington, at the meeting point of the M6's junction 21A and the M62's junction 10.

Traffic lights will function during the busiest times of the day.

Until now, the UK's motorway system has remained free of traffic lights. Slip roads, however, have seen traffic lights fitted in recent years.

The UK's motorway system accounts for just one per cent of the entire network, yet 21 per cent of the annual distance driven by UK motorists takes place on it.

There has been a huge surge of motorway traffic in recent decades, growing 30 per cent in 2016 when compared to the mid-1990s.

Drivers are becoming increasingly frustrated by congestion on the motorways, with 61 per cent saying they feel it has worsened over the last 12 months.

When the new scheme gets underway on the Manchester-bound section of the M62, speed limits will also be brought down.

Later, lights will be installed on the link road between the eastbound M62 and the M6.

Data suggests congestion costs the British economy £9bn each year – the same as the entire budget for the 2012 London Olympics. If the scheme meets with success, it could be rolled out to other sections of the UK motorway network.

Highways England's Andy Withington said: "Once the system is fully up and running we'll be monitoring its use over a period of up to a year. If it is successful - and we believe it will be - it could well be used on other motorway to motorway link roads across the country."