WORK has begun on a new £12.5m link road in Darlington.

The Darlington Eastern Transport Corridor (DETC), hailed as the town's biggest highways project in more than 20 years, aims to ease traffic congestion in Haughton Road, McMullen Road and Yarm Road.

The 1.8-mile route will link Haughton Road to the A66, with a cycleway, footpath and bridleway running alongside.

"The start of work on this vitally important project has been a long time coming and I am delighted that we have arrived at this stage," said Nick Wallis, Darlington Borough Council's cabinet member for highways and transport.

"It has taken a lot of hard work and lobbying on the part of the council, as well as Darlington MP Alan Milburn, to reach this point.

"The DETC is integral to our efforts to reduce traffic congestion in Darlington and will benefit motorists and pedestrians."

The scheme was given approval in December when the Government provided £12m in funding. Darlington Borough Council added a further £460,000.

The route follows the old Stockton-Darlington track bed, with a new bridge over the A66, and a cycleway running through to Middleton St George to link into the national cycle network.

Mr Milburn said: "This is a very exciting day for Darlington, as people begin to see the new road physically taking shape.

"It will alleviate traffic problems and in the long term make a vital difference to the economic growth of the town."

The project came in for criticism from opposition members at Darlington council, who called for more to be done to address the town's traffic problems.

Conservative leader Heather Scott said: "This road is supposed to have taken the place of the cross-town route, but it's been a bit of a piecemeal effort.

"It would have been better if it could have been completed right across town.

"Anything is better than nothing, but it's not been done completely, we would have preferred to have a proper job done."

The local ward councillor, Chris McEwan, said: "I think it's great news for residents of Haughton East, particularly those who use Haughton Road to travel into town.

"It's something we have campaigned for a long time and we are extremely pleased to see it commence. Hopefully, residents will share our delight."

The road is due to be finished by spring next year.