Coun Glen Sanderson urged the administration to build on the work of the A1 Campaign Group especially to begin work to dual the A1 north of Morpeth to the Scottish border before more lives are lost.

He said: "Our stretch of the A1 remains the most dangerous road in the county – 600 people have been injured and 21 have been killed this year and 50 per cent of those deaths resulted from accidents on the A1.

"That's why it's so important that we continue to fight for change because very little seems to be going on.

"People who visit Northumberland remember our beaches and our castles, they remember the friendliness of our locals.

"But they also remember our roads – how much of the money raised for fuel and road taxes are spent in Northumberland? It's less than two per cent."

Coun Grant Davey said he supported the motion in principle but said that the economic element was missing and that he did not want to see the A1 Campaign Group end up as a quango.

Coun Roger Styring added: "The good news is that this dual carriageway is back both on the regional and national agenda.

"We are now putting the economic framework together ready to put out to tender – but it does not only involve the A1 Campaign Group .

"We need to get our act together."