The wreckage of crashed cars and other vehicles will be removed more swiftly from Hertfordshire’s road after the county’s police forces has secured funding for a new scanner.

The £150,000 piece of technology will enable police to collect evidence and information about the cause of accidents faster and mean roads will be closed off for less time.

The news comes after Hertfordshire Police Authority was awarded cash from the Department of Transport for the devise.

David Lloyd, chairman of the authority that oversees the county's police, said the fact Hertfordshire has one of the largest concentrations of major roads in the country including the A1 and M1 helped make the case for the grant.

He said: “Hertfordshire has some of the busiest roads in the whole country so using new technology to reduce accident investigation time is very welcome. “ The decision to give the cash to Hertfordshire was made by junior Conservative transport minister and Hemel Hempstead MP, who represent’s Kings Langley, Mike Penning.

Mr Penning said, “There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck in a traffic jam for hours on end. "But even worse than that is the shocking £1 billion cost of those lost hours for our economy.”