A YOUNG mother from Todmorden has paid tribute to motorway patrol officers after she was rescued from a hard shoulder.

Collette Leyland was stranded beside the eastbound M62 with her nine-month-old daughter Sarah, after the lights failed on her new car.

Highways Agency traffic officers Gary Reece and Martin Costello were clearing up after an incident nearby and noticed she was distressed.

The pair decided to escort Collette and Sarah off the motorway where she could be collected by her family.

Collete has now written a letter of thanks to the officers, who are based at the agency’s north-west headquarters at Newton-le-Willows.

She said that without them she would have been stranded.

She said: “I just want to express my heartfelt gratitude for them helping to resolve what could have turned out to be a very traumatic experience.”