Police helped get a 53-year-old woman to hospital for a scheduled operation after her car broke down on the motorway, they announced on Saturday.

The woman contacted police for help around 12.30pm on Friday, saying she and her husband were stranded on the motorway to Nicosia near Kotsiatis due to a mechanical failure.

She added that she had a scheduled surgery at a private clinic in the capital in half an hour.

An officer of the road accident prevention unit rushed to scene, picked up the woman and transported her to the clinic just before 1pm.