Drivers are being told to switch off their engine in queuing traffic amid fears that a sharp rise in roadworks is putting a strain on cars.

Breakdown crews said motorists should stop the engine if they are stuck for more than a minute, to prevent it overheating.

The comments were made as figures suggested that the number of roadworks has risen by more than a fifth in the past year.

A study by LV= Britannia Rescue found that each council in Britain had an average of 139 roadwork schemes at the moment, up from 115 a year ago.

Separate figures showed Highways England, which is responsible for motorways and A roads, completed 1,542 roadwork schemes last year compared with 1,352 in 2013.

A survey of 2,000 motorists found that drivers named the M1 as the most “frustrating” motorway for roadworks, followed by the M6, M25, M5 and M4.

Argyll & Bute council, in western Scotland, had the most roadworks at 837, followed by Gloucestershire (734), Rotherham (656), and Darlington (475).

Thousands of drivers are being put at risk after breaking down on “smart” sections of motorway without a hard shoulder, the AA has claimed.

As many as 16,000 motorists may be put in danger each month because of a lack of emergency lay-bys on revamped highways where the hard shoulder is turned into an additional lane, it said.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said many refuge areas were likely to be built around one-and-a-half miles apart, giving motorists little chance to escape traffic in a breakdown.

The comments come as figures from Highways England showed that almost 3,700 drivers had to be rescued in only ten months on a 17-mile stretch of motorway that is being converted into all-lane running.

Half of the breakdowns on the section of the M60 and M62, near Manchester, were mechanical or electrical faults, a fifth were punctures, a tenth were accidents and 7.5 per cent of drivers had run out of fuel.

The AA said the figures underlined the dangers of smart motorways, which form a key part of the government’s strategy to keep traffic flowing. Almost 200 miles are currently designated as “smart”, with differential speed limits depending on the conditions, CCTV coverage and lanes closed by a red “X” following an accident or breakdown.

Early smart motorways used the hard shoulder only at peak times but new schemes have no breakdown lane at all. These include two sections of the M25. Over the next decade, another 600 miles will be converted to allow all-lane running, a significant proportion of the 1,900-mile network in England.

Mr King said at least 20 motorists may be breaking down on each mile of the motorway network every month. It means around 16,000 a month may be exposed on smart sections when the programme is complete. On the very busiest stretches, such as the M25, the monthly breakdown rate may be nearer 40 per mile.

He said the changes would potentially put drivers at risk and waste police resources. He pointed out that the 17-mile stretch had only three emergency refuges planned in addition to the 11 exits. “It is not always possible for a driver to safely coast off on to a slip road when their engine has failed or tyres have blown out,” he said.

On the M60 and M62, a free recovery service has been provided along the route while work takes place on the £208 million scheme.

A Highways England spokesman denied that smart motorways put road users at risk. “Our research tells us that were a driver to be unfortunate enough to experience a problem . . . they would be able to make it to an area of refuge or off the motorway,” he said.

“Many of the breakdowns we encounter are avoidable and we would urge drivers to make sure their vehicle is properly maintained and that they have enough fuel for their journey.”

Councils are letting pothole-strewn roads deteriorate in an attempt to claim funding, said the transport minister.

A series of “perverse incentives” had been created in recent years that have allowed local authorities to “let standards slip so as to win more money”, Andrew Jones claimed as he unveiled a £578 million fund that will be allocated on councils’ ability to spend money wisely. This includes proving that upgraded roads remain pothole-free for as long as possible and sharing resources with neighbouring councils.

In his first speech since becoming a transport minister, Mr Jones said some councils were to blame by failing to properly fix damaged surfaces. Some £20 million worth of compensation claims are made against councils by motorists for damage to vehicles each year. He said: “We have learnt that if you hand out money while ignoring why local roads are in a bad state, you create a system of perverse incentives, and unintended consequences.”

The announcement came as Jaguar Land Rover announced it was developing technology to help drivers dodge potholes by scanning the road ahead. It plans to map roads for damaged surfaces and broken manhole covers and adjust suspension in a fraction of a second to mitigate the worst effects.

As chief executive of one of the cycling industry’s most promising new companies, wheels might well have put her where she is today, but for Beverly Lucas, wings play just as important a part in her life.

The 44-year-old from Sheffield has turned globetrotting into an art form by living in Australia and running a company in the United States. To help bump-up the air miles, she remains close to her family in Sheffield where she grew up and also pays regular visits to the company’s manufacturing facility in Taiwan. All of which must play havoc in terms of jetlag.

“It’s funny. Since the birth of my two children, my body has learned to live on five or six hours’ sleep, so I can get by on that amount and still put in a good ten hours’ work,” Ms Lucas says from Bend in Oregon – her main home for the rest of the year as she works on the global roll-out of Knight Composites.

The company makes carbon bicycle wheels – “The fastest wheels in the world; that statement is actually true.” It launched at the Eurobike trade show in summer 2014 and hit the ground running. Knight Composites turned a “small profit” in its first month of sales and has been doing the same ever since. It has trebled sales forecasts to date. Ms Lucas puts this down to the company ethos which “at the risk of sounding cliched,” is run on the same principle as the wheels it creates, “fast and lightweight. Our overheads are minimal – we don’t have 150 staff and 40 people making management salaries. Jim [Pfeil – co founder], Kevin [Quan – engineer] and I make enough to feed our families and take them out to dinner once in a while.”

Knight’s founders have a cast-iron background in carbon bike components. Ms Lucas played a pivotal role at wheelbuilder Enve Composites and Felt cycles, Jim and Kevin are from Reynolds and Cervelo – all highly regarded names in the industry.

Ms Lucas’s late father, Gary Knight got her into cycling. He died suddenly when she was very young and is the inspiration behind the brand name. She was racing at the age of nine, for Rutland Cycling Club, and was once turned down for a job at Raleigh in Nottingham “for not having sufficient ‘man skills’.” Her lack of progress in the UK bike industry partly led to her move across the Atlantic: “My Mum says she always knew I would move to the US because her cousin did it and I always looked up to her.”

Work as a mechanic and bike shop owner followed. She met and married an American, a pro-team soigneur (massage therapist), had two children (Molly, 11, Cameron, seven), then lost her business and subsequently her husband to the financial crisis. She moved to Australia in the summer of 2012 virtually penniless. “I saw it as making something good out of something bad.” She hadn’t been in Melbourne long before the opportunity arose at (then unnamed) Knight.

Ms Lucas has already proven that the Pacific Ocean is no barrier to running a business: “It’s actually easier to run a global company when you are experienced in living and working in a number of countries,” she explains.

It has all the hallmarks of a logistical nightmare, especially as the company grows into new markets. “I can cover all time zones by scheduling work around my life,” but the key, says Ms Lucas, is technology. “I have my iPhone permanently strapped to my hip, and I was an early adopter of Skype.” The latter comes in particularly handy when dealing with manufacturers in Taiwan, where Knight’s rims are made.

“We went there because these engineers and manufacturers are arguably the best in the world in working with composites,” says Ms Lucas. “We use the best carbon fibre in the world, the same Toray T800 fibres you find in the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.”

It is attention to detail such as this and Knight’s relative value against other brands that have garnered so much attention. It is only six months since the company’s first wheels went on sale at up to £2,200 a pair and distribution is already spread through 25 countries.

It would be easy to think Beverly Lucas has led a blessed life. She is on the face of it the definition of the American dream – she worked hard and she has made it. But her story is one of perseverance. A less driven individual might have packed it all in and gone home to Sheffield.

“A friend suggested I was the J.K. Rowling of the bicycle industry – ‘You’ve been a broke, single mum just trying to do the best for your kids, but you have this magic that makes people happy.’ Sounds pretty cheesy, but if I can continue to have opportunities to bring some mirth and excitement to people then that’s going to keep me in this business for another 20 years.”

In years to come, if her wheels, like her air miles, truly take off, the comparison may stretch a little further.

Five points to global working according to Beverly Lucas

Embrace Technology: Skype is invaluable

Know your timezones: And your trading partners’ business hours

Trust your partners and distributors: Respect their judgement

Focus your business: Keep overheads down

The world is round: You are always in the middle

Driving is being split along generational lines with a growing proportion of pensioners retaining their licences just as young people “fall out of love” with the car, according to research.

A study found that young people were ditching car ownership because of internet shopping, taxi-sharing apps and better public transport.

The fall was also attributed to the escalating cost of insurance for young people, with some being quoted almost £5,400 a year for comprehensive cover.

Older drivers, meanwhile, are hanging on to their cars to “preserve their independence”.

The conclusions are made in a report from the Independent Transport Commission, alongside the Office of Rail and Road, into attitudes towards different forms of transport.

It follows the publication of statistics from the Department for Transport showing that the proportion of 17 to 20-year-olds with a driving licence has dipped over the past two decades. In 2013, 31 per cent held a licence, compared with almost half in 1992. Among over-70s, the proportion of driving-licence holders had risen from 33 per cent to 62 per cent. In the mid-1970s it was 15 per cent.

“The research demonstrates that young people are ‘falling out of love’ with the car, and place greater weight on alternative consumer products, while older people see the car as an important part of their lifestyle,” the commission’s study said.

Researchers interviewed almost 4,700 people for the report, which sought to set out the factors behind changing travel trends.

They found examples of young people being quoted huge amounts for insurance. One 20-year-old, a Post Office worker from Manchester, said that he was quoted £5,394 for comprehensive car insurance.

In urban areas, the researchers found that pensioners often owned a car but were less likely to rely on them as they used free bus passes and senior rail discounts.