The Autonomous Impact Protection Vehicle (AIPV) will typically be used to lay out traffic cones on road jobs.

The latest technology removes the requirement of a driver in the vehicle.

Automatic sensors mean the AIPV can follow a driver operated lead vehicle.

Colas CEO Lee Rushbrooke said: “We are dedicated to advancing health and safety issues and will continue to invest in cutting-edge research and development projects to benefit our employees, clients and the wider industry.

“We are extremely excited about this new technology and are looking forward to giving this a global reach to save lives of road workers, across the world”

Mike Wilson, Executive Director for Safety, Engineering and Standards at Highways England commented: “Our number one imperative is safety and we believe no one should be harmed when travelling or working on our road network.

“We welcome this innovative work by Colas which, through the use of connected and autonomous vehicle technology, has the potential to help the sector address the risks road workers face on a daily basis.”