Action is needed now to clear roads more quickly.

MOTORWAYS and main roads were closed more than 1,700 times in the first eight months of this year because of accidents and incidents, the AA said.

The closures equate to more than 5,000 hours, AA president Edmund King said at a fringe meeting with shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers at the Conservative Party conference.

The AA is calling for measures to improve the situation, including a review of decisions to close roads after accidents, a speeding-up of procedures to remove crashed vehicles and more technology to speed up forensic tests and accident investigation.

AA/Populus polls of 17,500 drivers show that 72 per cent do not think the Government or local councils recognise that people want to own and use cars.

Also two in three believe new roads should be built or major road improvements be carried out, with 71 per cent in favour of new motorways.

Mr King said: "We need to combat the chaos of congestion as it harms commerce, costs and climate change.

"We must fight against delays caused by uncoordinated street works and roadworks. We must remove pinch points and redundant traffic lights.

"While new high-speed rail links are seen as the panacea, they come at a high price and do little or nothing to combat traffic congestion.

"We need to remember that rail caters for just 6 per cent or 7 per cent of passenger journeys so we cannot overlook problems on the roads."

These were the top 10 motorway closures in the period January-August 2009: M25 (206 hours closed), M1 (189), M6 (179), M5 (153), M40 (124), A1(M) (74), M4 (73), M62 (53), M2 (48), M11 (41).