Priti Patel calls on government to invest in local roads

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel has urged the government to speed up the level of investment in local roads.

She said improvements had not kept up with housing growth and cited delays in dualling the A120 in Essex, calling it one of the country's "most dangerous roads".

Ms Patel said projects had been "stymied by national issues".

In response, Levelling-Up Minister Rachel Maclean said Essex would benefit from £80m of levelling-up money.

The planning and infrastructure debate at Westminster Hall heard parts of Hatfield Peverel, Tiptree and Stanway in Ms Patel's Witham constituency were "traffic bottlenecks", with roads "untouched" for 40 years.

Ms Patel said more money needed to be "unlocked" from developers in order to upgrade roads alongside new housing schemes.

Ms Maclean said the government shared her "desire for the housing and planning system to work for absolutely everybody".

She pointed to £85m being spent through the government's towns fund investment project in Harlow, Colchester, Grays and Tilbury.

She added Essex was the only county to benefit from two freeport zones, which would also bring economic benefits to the area.

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