Millions of pounds of public money has been wasted on preliminary work for the axed A1 upgrade project, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The Highways Agency admitted that £24.6m of taxpayers’ money has been spent on paving the way for the scheme – which may never go ahead.

The plan to upgrade a stretch of the A1 from Leeming to Barton, in North Yorkshire, has been halted as part of the Government spending review.

Work on the upgrade, which would have completed the “missing link” of motorway between the North-East and London, was due to start in 2014.

Instead, highways chiefs will have to find a way to sell off land and property already purchased ahead of the scheme’s abortive go-ahead.

The upgrade was cancelled this week as part of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review.

A spokesman for the Highways Agency, which is linked to the Department for Transport, said the costs for design, public consultation and the purchase of properties and land had been calculated up to the end of last month.

He said no property had been acquired using compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) – in which land can be obtained without the consent of the owner – because the project was not sufficiently advanced.

The spokesman said: “The agency will do all it can to minimise the impact on the public purse, including selling, at market value, land and property purchased under statutory provisions.

“No CPOs have been made.

This is only undertaken at the point when the Secretary of State makes a decision to construct a project.”

Work on the southern section of the A1 upgrade, between Dishforth and Leeming, is not affected by the cuts and is continuing.

The first phase is being delivered in a joint venture between contractors Morgan Sindall and Carillion.

It is understood a tendering process for the axed section had not yet started, nor had a design been finalised.

A spokeswoman for the Road Haulage Association, which represents the heavy goods vehicle drivers using the A1 every day, said: “We are disappointed that this key strategic route has been cut, particularly as it is the last section remaining to be upgraded.

The fact that so much has been spent on preparatory work makes it all the more frustrating.”

County councillor Carl Les, who owns a service station off the A1 at Leeming, said: “I am not surprised the preparatory work has cost so much, because extensive work was carried out to reach a solution acceptable to all.” Fiona McEvoy, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, described the spending as wasteful and a tragedy for taxpayers.

She said: “Capital expenditure in areas like transport was always going to be cut given the scale of the fiscal crisis. We knew this well before the spending review.

“So the £24m laid out by the Highways Agency for this project just shows a total lack of foresight. Millions of pounds have now been wasted because spending reached unsustainable levels.

“It is a tragedy for taxpayers that a lack of caution has now resulted in money down the drain.”