Millions already spent on A1 upgrade in Northumberland

Plans to dual an eight mile section of road between Morpeth and Felton and a further five miles between Alnwick and Ellingham have already been stalled three times.

A decision on whether the project will get the go ahead is expected from the government in September – a full 20 months after the first deadline.

But National Highways has confirmed that an eye-watering sum has already been spent on the project.

National Highways regional delivery director Tim Gamon said: “To date, £67m has been spent on the A1 Morpeth to Ellingham improvement.

"This includes options development, detail design of the project, the Development Consent Order (DCO) application process, land and property acquisition and some advanced construction.

“The DCO decision is due by September 5, 2023. We stand ready to deliver these improvements, subject to receiving a positive decision on the DCO and authorisation to proceed to construction.”

Among those left in limbo by the delay is Martin Beal’s family whose home at Charlton Mires, north of Alnwick, was bought by National Highways as part of advanced planning needed for the project. They can’t get planning permission to build a new property until their old one is demolished.

"It's quite disgusting that they've spent all that money and there's still doubt that it's going to go ahead," Mr Beal told the BBC. "We're living in limbo."

A £290m commitment to dual a 13-mile section of the A1 was made by the government in 2015.

Key proposals include a bypass between Priests Bridge and Burgham Park and a new subway and bridge over the River Coquet.

Berwick MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan and the Conservative-led adminstration at Northumberland County Council continue to press the case for dualling.

Hopes were raised under Liz Truss’s brief tenure as Prime Minister. Berwick MP Anne Marie Trevelyan was made Transport Secretary while the dualling of the A1 was included in a list of infrastructure projects the government wants to get started by the end of 2023 in Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget.

In December, the Department of Transport said the scheme had been delayed for ‘consideration of environmental matters’.