| Nails and other metal objects will be swept off the hard shoulders of the M4 and A34 by a new roadsweeper equipped with a giant magnet.
The Highways Agency bought the 18 tonne sweeper to reduce the risk of tyre blowouts and punctures on the busy local stretches, and promise that it can also pick up litter and clean the gullies at the same time.
Engineers said the current fleet of sweepers had trouble collecting fragments of metal. The new vehicle will have a bar magnet attached to the front.
Meanwhile, the Highways Agency is considering bringing in lorry-only lanes on the M4, along with new signage at J15 Marlborough, which has become a favoured HGV rat-run since the B4000 lorry ban, bringing more lorries into central Newbury. | 
