The Government has confirmed it will make the long-awaited decision on whether to dual the A1 in Northumberland next month – but there is little hope in the area that the project will ever go ahead.

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.

Despite confirming a decision would be made next month, there was no suggestion what that decision would be from the DfT. Campaigners have called for the road to be dualled for years, arguing that doing so would improve safety and provide an economic benefit.

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

Coun Hunter 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.

Coun 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.

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“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. A decision was originally due in January 2022, which was then pushed back twice – first to June and then again to December, before finally being delayed nine months until the current September deadline.

On a visit to Northumberland earlier this year, Transport Secretary Mark Harper refused to say whether or not the project would be approved. However, he did acknowledge the efforts of campaigners, including Berwick MP and former Transport Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan.