The Prime Minister has sparked fresh hope he could revisit plans to dual the A1 in Northumberland after admitting infrastructure in the North East was not at an acceptable standard.

Andy Burnham was speaking about the road in Westminster as part of taking questions from MPs for the first time as PM.

Among them was North Northumberland MP David Smith, who raised the issue of the A1. It comes after Mr Burnham said the Government would look at alternative ways of funding the scheme during a visit to the North East last month.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Smith said: “I warmly welcome the Prime Minister to his place and thank him for his recent visit to the North East, where he committed to trying to tackle the totemic infrastructure issue of the North East, which is the dualling of the A1.

“I thank him for committing to find alternative ways to fund that. This afternoon, I and 12 other MPs, the mayor and – in the spirit of cross-party working – the local Conservative leader wrote to him to ask what more we can do to work with him and his Government to secure this generational change for infrastructure in the North East.”

There have long been calls to dual the A1 in Northumberland. However, those calls have grown louder this year after a string of fatal crashes that have seen six people killed on the road.

North of Morpeth, long stretches of the A1 up to the Scottish border remain single carriageway in each direction. The road is under increasing pressure due to the volume of traffic rising as north Northumberland becomes an ever more popular destination for visitors.

Responding to Mr Smith, Mr Burnham replied: “I will ask the Transport Secretary to work with colleagues at No. 10 North to see what can be done to bring forward a new way of delivering this much-needed infrastructure. I know how critical it is.

“I do not think any region of the country – certainly not the south-west and the North East – has a level of infrastructure that is acceptable. This is something that has been long promised and not delivered.

“Let us see whether No. 10 North can make the breakthrough.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has seen the letter sent by the cross-party group of North East politicians. It was signed by: David Smith MP – North Northumberland; Joe Morris MP – Hexham; Ian Lavery MP – Blyth and Ashington; Mayor Kim McGuinness – North East Mayoral Strategic Authority; Coun Glen Sanderson – Leader, Northumberland County Council; Councillor Scott Dickinson – Leader, Northumberland Labour Group; Luke Akehurst MP – North Durham; Kate Osborne MP – Jarrow and Gateshead East; Lewis Atkinson MP – Sunderland Central; Sharon Hodgson MP – Washington and Gateshead South; Emma Lewell MP – South Shields; Liz Twist MP – Blaydon and Consett; Mary Glindon MP – Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend; Jonathan Brash MP – Hartlepool; Alan Strickland MP – Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor; Chi Onwurah MP – Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West.

A previous scheme to dual 13 miles of the road between Morpeth and Ellingham was scrapped in 2025 after officials deemed the £500million estimated cost as “poor value for money”.

National Highways has committed to carrying out safety improvements on the route as part of the Road Investment Strategy.