Over 4,500 miles of UK roads are without phone signal

Over 4,500 miles of UK road remains without mobile coverage, leaving drivers without access to help should they break down or have an accident.

This according to new research from RAC Foundation, which reveals just under 4,600 miles of the UK's roads doesn't even have 2G coverage, and a further 29,000 miles only has partial coverage for drivers on particular networks. Things are worse for 3G, with over 14,500 miles of road going without and almost 112,000 with only partial coverage.

Steve Gooding, RAC Foundation director, said: "There are thousands of miles of road along which you would not want to break down or have an accident because calling the RAC, the emergency services or even home wouldn't be an option. Even where there is partial network coverage it might not be from your network provider."

As Gooding points out, this lack of coverage could prove to be a significant barrier to the pursuit of implementing driverless car technology across the UK.

"The concepts of connected cars and drivers is at the heart of much thinking about how we might make our travelling lives easier. But the best ideas in the world will fall at the first hurdle if there are no bars on the phone."

Areas with no coverage account for around two per cent of the country's road network, including some of the A591 in Cumbria, the A93 in Scotland, the A494 in Wales and the A149 in East Anglia. Highland in Scotland and Powys in Wales are the worst affected.