I had a similar concern at the junction of the M23 with the M25-o/s rear of course.Had jack and spare but because of other traffic I asked my wife to go to an emergency phone to get help-I wanted something protecting my back.In the meantime a police Range Rover stopped and asked if I was OK.I explained the situation and the observer told the driver to back up and put everything on-hazard flashers,blue lights etc.He then helped me change the wheel and then they radioed their control room to turn off the breakdown service.My thanks to that policeman and even with that Range Rover there HGV's still were running with N/S wheels on the hard shoulder.

Thanks for all the replies.

Where I had pulled over on the M62 was in fact in some roadworks, inside the coned-off section and there was a 50mph speed limit in effect.

I was also just before a bridge that took the M62 over a valley. Clearly being on a bridge such as this is bad as there's nowhere to go if a vehicle does stray into the inside lane.

so, I decided to change the wheel where I had ended up. I decided that if any vehicle looked like it was straying too close then I could just leap over the barrier and then let gravity take over as I rolled down the slope into a hedge/fence/ditch

Thankfully no such events took place so as the traffic was all moving at roughly 50mph and there was a vague plan of escape should it go wrong so I kept my eyes fixed on the traffic and concentrated on getting the wheel changed.

I had already written off the tyre, a new one was only £50 so no point quibbling.

After I continued my jounrye (from Lancs -> Cambridge) I then got diverted twice, one on the A1 because it was closed due to overnight roadworks and then again on the A14 for the same reason.

so considering all that, I thought that the 4hrs it took me to do the journey wasn't too bad though I was somewhat relieved to get to my accomodation that night.