A broken-down Volvo was crushed in half "like a concertina" after a lorry ploughed into it on a smart motorway.

Shocking pictures show the boot and back seats of the car flattened while the front of the motor remained undamaged.

Incredibly, no one was injured in the smash which happened on the M1 in Derbyshire in the early hours of Tuesday.

The car was travelling on the southbound carriageway when it broke down on the hard shoulder being used as a slow lane.

A blue HGV travelling behind it failed to see it in time and smashed straight into the back of the stranded car.

Watford Observer:

Credit: Derbyshire RPU/SWNS

Derbyshire Roads Policing Unit tweeted pictures of the wrecked car and the damaged lorry.

They posted: “M1 South J29 to J28 overnight. Volvo breaks down in lane one. Lorry fails to see it and react in time and drives into it.

"Good job there was no one sat in the back. Break down in a live lane? Get out, quickly, call 999.

“This isn’t politics or victim blaming but a public safety message. Get out the car or suffer the consequences of others failings.”

Watford Observer:

The lorry also sustained damage to the front of its cab. Credit: Derbyshire RPU/SWNS

Other drivers expressed their fury at smart motorways, branding them an “absolute death trap”.

Peter Walker wrote: “Wow, they were very lucky.

“It's bad enough breaking down and being on hard shoulder (was said to be the most dangerous place) but when no hard shoulder absolute death trap.”

Andrew Johnson tweeted: “How is no one dead in that crash?? The back was folded in like a concertina. Smart motorways are anything but smart.”

There are smart motorways all over the country, with many Hertfordshire drivers using the stretch of smart motorway on the the M1 between j10 and j13, in Bedfordshire.

Watford Observer:

Smart motorways leave no hard shoulder to stop on. Photo: Highways England

Smart motorways utilise the hard shoulder as an extra lane during busy periods or sometimes remove them altogether and gantry signs indicate whether the lane is open or not.

The use of smart motorways came under fire earlier this month after it was revealed a stretch of M1 in South Yorkshire which has seen four people killed has raked in millions of pounds worth in fines.

More than 60,000 speeding tickets were reportedly issued between junction 30 and 35a bringing in £6,233,700.

Claire Mercer, whose husband Jason, 44, was killed when he pulled over near Junction 34 and was hit by oncoming traffic, slammed the figures.

She told The Sun: "While no one condones speeding, my worry is the government may be determined to keep smart motorways because they are producing so much money

"The government remains determined to continue rolling out smart motorways despite the rising death toll. Are they literally saving money and not lives?"

Following the criticism of smart motorways, chief highways engineer Mike Wilson, said: "Evidence indicates that smart motorways are helping to improve safety. The first nine of the latest generation of smart motorways have reduced casualty rates by more than 25 per cent.

"As with other roads, we monitor the safety performance of smart motorways and are rolling out enhancements to improve the road user experience."