Fresh doubts raised that dualling of A1 in Northumberland will ever happen

The Department for Transport (DfT) will make its decision on September 5, following on from three delays last year that caused widespread disappointment across the county.

Campaigners have called for the road to be dualled for years, arguing that doing so would improve safety and provide an economic benefit.

But Cllr Isabel Hunter, who represents the Berwick West with Ord on Northumberland County Council, believes the project is now unlikely.

She said: “I would say most people here think it will never happen. Reading between the lines, it doesn’t feel very hopeful.

“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.

“I just think people don’t have any faith that it’s going to happen.”

A Freedom of Information Request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found that there had been 129 accidents on the single-carriageway sections of the A1 in Northumberland across the last four years. Of these, 32 were deemed as serious while five resulted in fatalities.

Cllr Hunter, who also owns a haulage business, said safety was a key driver behind the need for the project – as was the lack of public transport in the area.

She continued: “For me it is the safety aspect. Driving that road on a regular basis, you see people take chances.

“I’ve had it before where I’ve had to brake to let someone who was overtaking in because there was a car coming the other way. I could have been the innocent party involved in an accident.

“In north Northumberland you need to be able to drive. You can’t rely on public transport like you can in a city, particularly in the more rural areas.”

If given the green light, the project would see a 13-mile stretch of the key route between Morpeth and Ellingham dualled.