THE Government is today expected to make a major announcement on the future of the road dubbed the most dangerous in Britain.

Transport Minister John Spellar is believed to be ready to signal a significant upgrade of the A66 along the notorious stretch between Scotch Corner and Penrith.

Crashes on the cross-Pennine route have claimed the lives of more than 70 people in the past decade and led to repeated calls for improvements.

Last year, a report by Government-appointed consultants Maunsell Transport Planning recommended a dual carriageway be built along its entire length.

The Northern Echo, which has been at the forefront of the campaign to upgrade the A66, hopes that Mr Spellar's announcement will be in line with those findings.

Manchester-based Maunsell was appointed in March 2000 and initially in an interim report recommended no more than a series of individual road safety packages, including improved junctions and the realignment of dangerous bends.

But pressure from campaigners eventually led to agreement that the way forward was for a full dual carriageway.

The expected news follows a Government announcement in June that a 29-mile stretch of the A1 - between Bramham in West Yorkshire and Barton, near Darlington - was being upgraded to three lanes at a cost of £263m.

Last night, a Government source refused to be drawn on the detail of Mr Spellar's announcement.

He said: "The minister has been considering the report about the A66 and comments from consultees around the region.

"An announcement is now expected tomorrow concerning its future development."

A dualling of the A66 to link the M6 in the west with the A1 at Scotch Corner would represent a victory for The Northern Echo, which has pressed for such a move for several years.

The campaign "Fix The A66" was set up in response to fears from local residents over a stretch of road branded the worst in Britain by a television panel of experts.

A number of local authorities in North Yorkshire, County Durham and Cumbria, represented by the A66 Completion pressure group, say the only logical answer to improving the road's safety record is a dual carriageway.

It would eliminate dangerous sections of single carriageway where overtaking has led to fatal accidents.

Estimates based on research carried out say that during the next 30 years there could be another 20 people killed, 139 seriously injured, and 581 slightly injured without full dualling.

The number of fatal and serious injury accidents on its single carriageway sections is 14 per cent above the national average for A class roads in non-built up areas.

Already a number of short-term measures, including speed cameras, traffic calming schemes at accident blackspots and improved road signs and markings, have been planned for the route.

This has led to fears that such relatively low-cost measures could delay any possible work to build a full dual carriageway.

It is thought that, even if the work is given approved, it could take several years for it to begin.

A number of hurdles - including planning procedures where permission would need to be sought and the assumption that sufficient cash is made available by Whitehall - would need to be overcome.