A1 dualling petition delivered to Downing Street

A petition calling for the dualling of a stretch of the A1 in Northumberland has been handed in to Downing Street.

There have long been calls for the single carriageway stretch to be upgraded but it has been reignited following the deaths of eight people this year.

Almost 15,000 signed the petition, organised by campaign group Northumberland A1 Safety Alliance, which also organised a five-day walk from Berwick to Newcastle city centre to highlight the issue.

The government scrapped a previous dualling scheme due to spiralling costs, but Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on a recent visit to Newcastle his government would look for an "alternative way" to fund the scheme.

It has also committed to safety improvements.

The petition calls for ministers to commit to a continuous dualling of the A1 all the way to the Scottish border.

It also seeks immediate, interim upgrades, including to junction visibility and hazard warnings, to prevent yet more deadly crashes.

Alliance co-founder Kezz Petronelli-Stone said he hoped it could reach 100,000 names by next February to trigger a debate in Parliament and has invited Burnham to arrange a visit to see the problems on the A1 first hand.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "We've cultivated a very strong following.

"I think though it started with the road it quickly came to symbolise the neglect we feel we're suffering.

"Our farmers, our small businesses, particularly our hospitality sector are absolutely on their knees.

"Hard working people are flogging themselves to bits with less and less to show for it."

He handed in the petition alongside Scottish Conservative MP John Lamont, who represents the borders constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk.

Before handing over the petition, campaigners hiked along a 70-mile (112km) route, taking in towns and villages including Alnwick, Ellingham, Felton and Morpeth.

Conservative council cabinet member Guy Renner-Thompson, who completed the first leg from Berwick to Belford, said: "The walk may look like a bit of fun but it's about raising awareness for a very serious issue we all face here in north Northumberland.

"We need people in London to take this seriously."

An upgrade to 13 miles (21km) between Morpeth and Ellingham was planned by previous Conservative government, but the cost spiralled to more than £500m and the current government scrapped the project in October 2024, calling it "unfunded and unaffordable".

However, it has committed to carrying out junction improvements on known accident blackspots, with a scheme announced for the Guyzance junction focusing on safety improvements on the southbound carriageway.

In August, Burnham admitted the level of transport infrastructure in the region was "not fair" compared with other parts of the country and officials would work alongside North East Mayor Kim McGuinness to look into whether a funding package could be put together.

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