HOPES that the Government will finally give the go-ahead for an upgrade the of the A1 north of Newcastle appeared to be fading last night.

The Chancellor has already revived a plan to upgrade the dual carriageway between Leeming Bar and Barton, in North Yorkshire, to three lane motorway.

That leaves 40 miles north of Alnwick, where the A1 becomes an overused single carriageway in both directions.

It beggars belief that the major link road between the North-East and Scotland is reduced to a meandering single carriageway.

Would such a situation be tolerated in the South-East? We doubt it.

The value of an upgraded A1 between the North-East and Edinburgh cannot be overstated.

More than 90 per cent of businesses polled for a recent survey cited the state of the road as the main barrier to growth in the region.

As well as a strong business case, there is an equally important safety argument for upgrading the A1. Funneling so much traffic onto a single carriageway is a road safety nightmare.

In 2011, George Osborne promised a huge commitment to “overhauling the physical infrastructure of our nation”.

So far, this region has seen precious little.

According to the IPPR North, London and the South-East will receive 84 per cent of planned Department for Transport spending. The North-East can expect a pitiful 0.4 per cent.

If Mr Osborne really is serious about investing in the economic arteries of the country, he needs to take another look at the A1.