THE economic future of the Tees Valley could be jeopardised by road chiefs who have the power to stop urban regeneration, it was claimed yesterday.

The North-East Chamber of Commerce has estimated that the Highways Agency could potentially halt £700m of development and 9,000 jobs from coming to the Tees Valley because the agency believes the region's trunk roads cannot take any extra traffic.

The agency can stop developments which would cause further congestion on the A66, A1 and A19 - and business leaders fear this could prevent or slow down future regeneration.

George Cowcher, chief executive of the chamber of commerce, said: "The Highways Agency has issued what is called an article 14 direction on various sites in the area.

"Recently, it has said that every new development that would mean more traffic should not be allowed to go ahead."

Stockton Borough Council said there were a number of article 14 directions in the town, including on the old Samsung site, the North Shore development and the Corus plant.

It means planning permission cannot be granted while investigations are ongoing.

A spokesman for the council said: "We do have concerns that these article 14 directions can cause major delays."

John Lowther, director of the Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit, which helps with planning in the region, said: "Our problem is that the A19 and A66 are close to capacity.

"The Highways Agency is trying to find a way around the problem, but the bottom line is we need more money to improve trunk roads.

"There is a danger this could put a stop on much of the regeneration of Darlington, Stockton and Middlesbrough."

The area has £8m a year to spend improving the A19 and A66 - the equivalent of just one interchange a year.

A spokeswoman for the Highways Agency said most article 14 directions asked the local authority to postpone planning permission, rather than vetoing it.

She said: "The Highways Agency is extremely concerned that proposals for much-needed developments in the North-East cannot be properly assessed for their impact on the trunk road network due to a lack of information."