Leicestershire A5 delays cost £17,000 a day, transport body claims

The road is home to one of the country's most bashed bridges

Delays on a Leicestershire road are costing the economy more than £17,000 every day, a transport body has said.

Figures from Midlands Connect suggest hold-ups on the A5 are costing commuters and HGV drivers time that equates - using a government formula - to thousands of pounds.

The body said the cost related to all drivers on the road, each day.

The borough council said it had been campaigning for more than a decade for improvements.

Midlands Connect, a government-funded body behind long-term transport plans for the area, said the cost related to time delays to all drivers on the road.

It said it had used a government formula to work out the value of the delays to commuters and HGV drivers, in terms of family time, leisure activities and retail.

Over the course of a year, it calculated all commuters lost just over £1.5m and all HGV drivers lost £877,955.19.

The A5 follows the line of the historic Watling Street, one of the main Roman roads to London

It said the economic impact of delays was calculated using an economic model that assessed the value of time of delays for cars, vans, and HGVs, for business, commuting and leisure journeys, on the A5 between the M6 and M1.

Midlands Connect said it was recommending improvements to the road between Hinckley and Tamworth, and at Gibbet Hill, Warwickshire, should be considered for funding by the government.

It is due to hold a conference in Hinckley to discuss the road's future, involving MPs and councils.

Midlands Connect's strategic roads manager Swati Mittal, said: "It is clear delays along the A5 are impacting not only the daily lives of individuals who use the road, but also businesses and the wider economy."

Dr Luke Evans, MP for Bosworth, said: "Two of the big issues facing the A5 are resilience and reliability.

"Our area is home to the Watling Street bridge, routinely one of the most bashed bridges in Britain, and as such we're constantly blighted by long delays and bottlenecks.

"These figures show the detrimental economic impact that delays to vital infrastructure improvements can have.

"I will continue to lobby for this road to be a priority of the government."

Boudica is meant to have been defeated at a point on Watling Street

• Much of the A5 follows the line of the historical Watling Street, which ran from Kent, through London towards Shropshire

• It became one of the main Roman routes and is traditionally thought to have been the site of their defeat of Boudica.

• Today part of the road forms the boundary between Leicestershire and neighbouring Warwickshire

Stuart Bray, leader of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, said: "We have been campaigning via the A5 Partnership for over a decade for urgent and significant investment in the A5.

"These issues are frequently expressed to us by local businesses and residents.

"I therefore welcome the priority that is being identified by Midlands Connect."

The Department for Transport has been contacted for a comment.