'˜How many deaths must there be before action is taken on A19?' - MP's despair over failure to tackle '˜problem' highway

The A19 was closed for several hours on July 19 this year after a diesel spillage on the southbound carriageway near Durham Road following a collision.

A year on - and still no action.

The leader of a campaign to make the A19 safer has slammed transport chiefs after the dangers he raised 12 months have not been addressed.

Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, launched calls for a safety review into the route because of the frequency of collisions and traffic jams on the section which runs through his constituency, as well as south to Hartlepool and north as far as South Tyneside.

The appeal is backed by our Safe A19 campaign, which has already been supported by more than 2,000 names.

In a video post he made last August, he underlined how it was suffering from a lack of Government investment - London was given £,1944 per person in transport cash compared to £220 in the North East, which impacts on the region’s infrastructure, jobs and economy.

Today, he has pledged to continue to hold transport ministers, their department and the Highways Agency to account and press for the investigation and funding to improve what is one of the North East’s main arterial roads.

He says he is not willing to accept that it is only driver error which leads to collisions.