M45 Breakdown
Recovery Service

The M45 is a relic of the earliest days of British motorway building and one of the most obscure roads in the national network. Running just 7 miles between the A45 at Dunchurch, near Rugby, and Junction 17 of the M1, this short spur was opened in 1959 as part of the original London-to-Birmingham motorway route. Before the M6 was completed, the M45 was the designated way to reach Birmingham from the M1, funnelling traffic onto the A45 through Coventry. Once the M6 opened its parallel route, the M45 became largely redundant for long-distance traffic, and it has existed in a kind of motorway twilight ever since.

Driving the M45 today is a peculiar experience. The road feels wider and more generously proportioned than its minimal traffic demands, a reminder of its original importance. The landscape is gentle Warwickshire and Northamptonshire countryside — flat arable fields, scattered villages, and the quiet hum of a road that time has bypassed. There are no service stations, no electronic message signs, no smart motorway technology — just a simple dual carriageway with hard shoulders and grass verges that recall the motorways of the 1960s.

Despite its obscurity, the M45 does serve a purpose. Local traffic uses it as a fast connection between Rugby and the M1, and some HGV drivers use it as a shortcut to avoid congestion on the M6 around Coventry, cutting through to the A45 and the Daventry distribution parks. These freight vehicles are often the source of breakdowns on the M45 — heavily laden lorries that have been pushed hard on longer routes sometimes give up their mechanical complaints on this quiet stretch. The road's low traffic volume means it receives less gritting priority in winter, and black ice can form here when busier roads remain clear. The Dunchurch end, where the motorway meets the A45 at a roundabout, is a particular frost pocket, sitting in a slight dip in the terrain where cold air pools on still winter nights.