Land Rover Discoverys to patrol England’s motorways

Land Rover has handed over the first of a new fleet of Discovery vehicles to Highways England, which has already begun patrolling England’s motorways. They are the latest in a long lineage of Discovery public services vehicles, stretching back to the original Discovery in 1989.

A fleet of 70 Highways England Land Rover Discoverys have been specially modified for the needs of traffic officers, including a roof-mounted light array, programmable rear LED board, iconic Battenburg livery and a cavernous reinforced load area. Traffic officers have to carry over 600kg of equipment, including lights, traffic cones and safety barriers. Often called into action to tow stranded vehicles, the Discovery’s mighty 3500kg maximum towing capacity and its 700Nm of torque demonstrates its suitability for the job.

The Land Rover Discovery SE 3.0 Sd6 models will be in service with Highways England for roughly four years, with each expected to cover around 250,000 miles on England’s motorways and major highways.

The Highways England Land Rover Discovery partnership was born from Jaguar Land Rover’s status as a supplier on the Crown Commercial Services Vehicle Purchase Framework, which sees Jaguar Land Rover supplying vehicles to numerous Government agencies, including UK police forces. Nick Harris, Executive Director of Operations at Highways England, said, “Having the right equipment and vehicles for our traffic officers is essential. It allows us to deliver the high levels of customer service and support drivers expect from us while we work to keep England’s motorways and major A-roads running smoothly round the clock. These new vehicles will be valuable addition to our fleet and we are very pleased to be continuing our relationship with Jaguar Land Rover.”