A MULTI-million pound upgrade to widen and resurface a concrete stretch of the A19 could be in doubt, according to an MP.

Alex Cunningham, who represents Stockton North, has claimed a response to his letter to the Transport Minister provides no assurances that the improvements will go ahead.

Residents have campaigned about to reduce the noise and volume of traffic using the road between Norton, near Stockton, and Wynyard, for more than three decades.

In October 2016, Mr Cunningham said Highways England had guaranteed work to upgrade the three-mile stretch of road would begin in 2020.

However, the Stockton North MP revealed his fears in January that Government overspending on roads projects could hamper the improvements under the Road Investment Strategy.

The National Audit Office stated that 16 routes within the strategy were on hold and being reconsidered to ensure affordability.

Mr Cunningham wrote to the Department for Transport for assurances that the scheme in Stockton will still be going ahead, however Transport Minister John Hayes did not guarantee the A19 improvements.

The Stockton North MP said: “The very fact the Minister won’t guarantee the scheme will go ahead is extremely worrying.

“This project was scheduled to be finished several years ago but cancelled by the Tory government and then reinstated and promised by 2020.

“Now the Minister says ‘no immediate plans to cancel’ which means the project is still very much in the melting pot.

“The people of Billingham will be shattered by this new doubt – as will the tens of thousands of commuters who use that road every day.”

Mr Cunningham added: “I will continue to press the Government to guarantee the scheme but for now we are only wait and hope.”

Under the Road Investment Strategy, the concrete stretch of the A19 would be resurfaced using a “low-noise surface”.

The dual-carriageway would also be widened to three lanes for traffic travelling along the busy A19 corridor.

Once started, work delivered by the Road Investment Strategy is estimated to take between two and three years to complete.