Lancashire’s newly built M55 used as makeshift jet runway in 1975

Archive video footage of a military jet coming in to land on a newly built Lancashire motorway before later taking off again has been released after half a century.

Test pilot Tim Ferguson used the M55 as a makeshift runway on 26 April 1975 to prove his Jaguar aircraft – loaded with four missiles – could successfully land on a road and take off from one.

People gathered nearby and watched in astonishment as the test pilot for the British Aircraft Corporation – which later became British Aerospace plc – completed his flying visit from Warton Aerodrome to the recently constructed motorway stretch at Weeton, near Blackpool.

The M55 officially opened – to regular motorists – a few weeks later.

Motorways expert and Autoshennigans Youtuber Jon Jefferson said everything happened at the Blackpool end of the new motorway.

He told BBC Radio Lancashire: “All of my research led me to the Weeton Road bridge which crosses over the M55 near Weeton.

“I believe that was where the jet was stocked up before taking off again. That’s the precise spot where it all happened.”