A1 Northumberland dualling confirmed after three delays

Plans to dual a 13-mile stretch between Morpeth and Ellingham have been set back several times

Plans to turn a 13-mile stretch of the A1 in Northumberland into dual carriageway have been confirmed.

The road will benefit from reallocated funding after the government scrapped the rest of the HS2 rail project.

Berwick MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan called the decision "fantastic", having "relentlessly" campaigned for the move.

But a Northumberland farmer whose land will be split in two by the plans said farming "will be made pretty awkward" by the road widening scheme.

The scheme will cut through Peter Hogg's land

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to upgrade the road in his speech to the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday.

The Department of Transport had previously said a decision was due to be made in June 2024.

'Bit of a pest'

While recognising he is in "the minority" in not wanting to see the road upgraded, local farmer Peter Hogg said the day-to-day running of his farm would be "turned upside down" by the dualling plans

Mr Hogg said: "It'll come through the middle of our farm, and goes 200 yards past our house and the B&B and holiday lets, so it'll make things pretty awkward farming-wise.

He added that some of his fields will be "land-locked" by the new road "which will entail a four-mile journey - so it's a bit of a pest for us".

"We'll have to assume we'll be running two separate farms as a result."

Nonetheless, Mr Hogg said it has been 15 years since the first survey was carried out to see if dualling that section of the road would be feasible, and he was hopeful it would be another 15 years before any work went ahead.

Ms Trevelyan said the decision was "fantastic news"

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed MP - who has not commented on the previous postponements - welcomed the announcement on Wednesday "after years of campaigning".

"I've been relentlessly in the ear of every minister and prime minister - with much-appreciated help from every constituent who has signed one of my petitions to show how strongly we feel," she said.

She added: "Today's reinvestment of every single penny in the hundreds of transport infrastructure projects that will make a real difference across our nation shows this government is listening."

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that all the £36bn savings from HS2 would be redeployed on other transport projects across the country

Land agent Louis Fell, who represents a number of farmers who will be affected by the road upgrade said he was "amazed money was being spent in the north-east of England".

Mr Fell said: "The certainty is a good thing because it's been delayed and delayed. I think everybody will be pleased a decision has been made."

Mr Fell said he believes a Development Consent Order (DCO), which is needed to allow the project to go ahead, will be signed off "pretty quickly".

Residents living close to the road have described being "exhausted" by the uncertainty around the proposed scheme..

Earlier this year it was revealed more than £67m had been spent without the project being signed off.

'Hot air'

The funding for the A1 was among a number of transport investments promised for the north-east by the PM in his speech at the party conference in Manchester. They include:

• £460 million for smaller road schemes, including the Blyth Relief Road

• Reopening the Leamside line, which runs between Pelaw, in Gateshead, and Tursdale, in County Durham, and building a new railway station at Ferryhill

• Funding for contactless or smartcard travel ticketing

• £1.8bn for transport in the north-east from the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement 2 and HS2 funding

Labour warned that the chances of Mr Sunak's promises actually being delivered were "slim", while the Lib Dems branded the announcements "typical Tory hot air".