HARWICH’S mayor has urged residents to back the Standard’s A120 dualling campaign, saying their signatures on the petition are vital in its success.

Since launching an online and paper petition calling on the Department of Transport to fund the dualling of the A120 from Hare Green to Harwich, 887 people have signed.

But significantly more people are needed to sign the petition if it is going to hold weight with Government ministers.

Harwich mayor Charlie Powell said: “Dualling the road is about 25 years late as far as I’m concerned.

“The quicker we can get this funding, the more chance we have to get it done in the next five or six years.

“Our town needs as much business as it can get and the A120 stops people from coming here.

“The petition will be coming round street by street and there is an online one.

“We need to get signatures.

“Harwich Town Council, Tendring Council, Essex County Council and our MP are on board - we don’t want the public to let us down now.”

Kieran Hutchence, of Briardale Avenue in Dovercourt, said he supports the campaign. He said: “The reason I back it is because it will be a lot easier for traffic to flow. Having it as a single lane is a nightmare.

“I work in Sainsbury’s in Stanway and I use that road daily.

“Accidents at Horsley Cross are a pain because it slows the whole road down and you are just sitting in traffic. There is a lot of traffic that uses that road and it’s in a bad state.

“Lorries over 3.5tonnes are restricted to 50mph, but people are in such a rush they overtake - a dualled road would stop that danger.”

Kieran also thinks the dualled road would benefit companies and the tourism industry in Harwich.

He added: “It would be better access to the port and to the town.

“I volunteer at the Harwich Society at the Redoubt Fort - it would get more people to come in and look around our historic town.

“I also think it would bring better job opportunities and businesses to the area.

“If I could get a job locally, it would be better for me, I love my job, but other people are struggling to find work.”

Sign the online petition at petition.parliament.uk/petitions/221123.