A CASH boost of £5million has been pledged to kickstart the dualling of the “Cinderella” A120.

Essex County Council announced the cash injection at a meeting with businesses in an effort to improve the road, which stretches from Stansted Airport to Harwich International port.

The money will be used to partfund a feasibility study into much-needed work on the trunk road, which will cost about £9million.

But the first phase will only see investigations done on dualling between Braintree and Marks Tey, a project expected to cost a total of £500million, with further cash needed to look at the Harwich to Horsley Cross stretch of the route at a later date.

Harwich and North Essex MP Bernard Jenkin, who helped chair the meeting, said: “The really important thing here is to understand that the Braintree to Marks Tey stretch is just as important for us as it is for Colchester and Braintree, as a lot of the traffic coming here comes along that road.

“That is the road that is really congested."

He added that if the Hare Green to Harwich stretch of the A120 starts suffering with congestion it should move up the priority list.