Newly appointed Transport Minister Jesse Norman has unveiled a £6.1bn programme of road improvements in England as part of the Government’s £23bn upgrade announced under the previous administration.

£75m will be provided to improve smaller local roads, including filling potholes.

The programme will cover 55 road improvements across the country, including opening 8 schemes, consulting on 10 schemes and publishing final plans for another 29 schemes. This includes preferred route announcements for A1 upgrades and a consultation on the A12 M25 to Chelmsford.

Jesse Norman said: “Over the next 6 months we expect to roll out our vital upgrade plan — taking next steps on £6.1bn-worth of schemes and seeking to hear from local people, organisations and businesses to help shape our plans and ensure they benefit local communities.”

The minster will also shortly announce the winners of the 2017 to 2018 highways maintenance challenge fund, which will see the Government invest £75m to improve smaller local roads including through resurfacing, filling potholes and other infrastructure projects.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The first five-year road investment strategy reassured millions of drivers and businesses that their long-term travel needs were at last being taken seriously and provided for. But the fear has always been that road programmes, like the morning mists, have a tendency to fade away before our eyes.

“This latest unveiling is therefore a particularly welcome demonstration that the promised money is not only available but is being spent on schemes that really matter, and that our calls to remember the local roads — where our journeys begin and end — are being heard.”