MOTORISTS who break down on the M2 will at least have the consolation of new phones to call for assistance in future.

The Highways Agency is to replace 6,500 emergency roadside phones in Kent, with more technologically advanced models.

The new phones will:

* Offer better accessibility for disabled people.

* Include a text facility, to help deaf people.

* Provide better sound quality.

* Be more visible to drivers.

Work has now started on the replacements on the A2 near Rochester.

Ken Hewitt, the Highways Agency’s Kent operations manager, said: “We always recommend that motorists use the emergency phones because that pinpoints their location.”