A1 Northumberland dualling to be decided next month

Supporters of the scheme say dualling the A1 will reduce congestion

The government will make its decision over the dualling of the A1 in Northumberland next month, it has said.

Plans to make a 13-mile stretch between Morpeth and Alnwick dual carriageway had been due to be decided in January 2022.

In the last four years, there has been 129 accidents on single-carriageway sections of the road, a Freedom of Information request revealed.

But councillors said they, and locals, do not think the project will go ahead.

The plan was first raised 15 years ago with the aim of making the road safer while boosting the local economy, but the decision has since been put back three times to allow for the "consideration of environmental matters".

A decision is expected to be made in September

"I would say most people here think it will never happen," Isabel Hunter, who represents Berwick West with Ord, said.

"We want it dualled to the Scottish border. People up here think it will never happen or there will be another delay.

"It is so disappointing. We seem as though we're stuck up here. We just need to do it - but personally I don't think it will happen."

A Freedom of Information request, submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, found there were 129 accidents on single-carriageway sections of the A1 in Northumberland in the last four years.

It found 32 of those accidents were "serious" and five resulted in deaths.

Earlier this year, Transport Secretary Mark Harper did not say whether or not the project would go ahead.

However, he did acknowledge the efforts of campaigners, including Berwick MP and former Transport Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan.

The Department for Transport is expected to make its decision on 5 September.