Businesses urged to speed up widening of A453

The route is one of the busiest in the East Midlands

Businesses in the East Midlands are being urged to get behind a new campaign to widen the A453.

The road, which connects Nottingham with the M1 at junction 24, in Leicestershire, is one of the region's busiest.

The Conservative leader of Nottinghamshire County Council has written to major firms in the region, urging them to support the scheme.

Last month the authority announced it would put £20m towards the project.

'Chance of success'

The council said it had pledged the money to encourage the government to bring forward the widening of the congested route.

The £164m project was one of several delayed until at least 2015 as part of the comprehensive spending review.

In the letter, Councillor Kay Cutts said: "The importance of improving the A453 to Nottinghamshire and the regional economy cannot be underestimated.

"That is why Nottinghamshire County Council has offered £20 million towards the cost of widening this vital route in the hope that the government will bring forward its approval.

"But in order to maximise our chance of success we need to gather pledges of support from as many local people and businesses as possible."

Improvements to the 11-mile single-carriageway route, which carries about 32,000 vehicles a day, have been under discussion since the early 1980s.

The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce had said that making the road a dual carriageway would benefit the region's economy by more than £320m.