Dualling of A1 is 'destined to stay just a pipedream'

THERE are now doubts as to whether the decades-long campaign to dual the A1 in Northumberland will ever be realised after the latest in a string of setbacks.

- JAMES ROBINSON

The Government has controversially announced it will revoke the development consent for the project agreed in 2024 after deeming the project financially unviable.

The move has prompted significant criticism in the county, with senior figures at Tory-led Northumberland County Council describing it as “needless and spiteful”. The project originally would have seen 13 miles of single-carriageway road between Morpeth and Ellingham upgraded.

It was seen as the first step in creating continuous dual carriageway all the way to Berwick on the Scottish Border.

However, longtime campaigner Isabel Hunter - the county councillor for Berwick West with Ord - now believes this will never happen.

Coun Hunter said: “It is very disappointing to hear that the Secretary of State for Transport is proposing to make an order to revoke the A1 development consent order.