A MAJOR multi-million pound investment could be in the pipeline for the "failing" A120, it has been revealed.

On Monday, Highways England started pothole repairs to the trunk road between Ramsey and Horsley Cross as part of a urgent £800,000 scheme.

It will see three crews working to patch the carriageway and give an immediate fix to some of the worse potholes along the road.

But road bosses are also looking at a huge project - expected to cost tens of millions of pounds - to completely remake the road between 2020 and 2025.

The concrete base of the A120, laid about 50 years ago, is reaching the end of its life

Harwich and North Essex MP Bernard Jenkin met with Highways England to discuss the plans.

He said: "The substructure is failing.

"Some of them have moved, the joints between the slabs are more and more evident, particularly down the middle of the carriageway, and some gullies are collapsing.

"I had a very productive meeting with the minister, Jesse Norman MP, and the chief executive of Highways England, Jim O’Sullivan, and made clear that work must be undertaken urgently.

"I am deeply committed to pushing for these improvements after hearing the concerns of many local residents and councillors regarding potholes and cracks.

“I also made clear that the A12 upgrades must not be delayed further and raised the idea of a long term strategy to upgrade the A120 to Harwich."

At Tuesday nights Tendring Council meeting, leader Neil Stock said this could be a chance to aim for even more.

He said: “If we want to consider dualling in the longer term, now is the time to develop these proposals.

Mr Jenkin is calling for a new A120 summit to put forward a case to ministers for what improvements are needed on the road.

He added that it will also need to address whether plans for the Bathside Bay container terminal are likely to go ahead, as the expansion was set to provide funding for dualling the road.

But Harwich Labour councillor and road campaigner Ivan Henderson said the MP, Tendring Council and Essex County Council need to lobby for money to dual the road.

"They've realised now that the road is a lot worse than they thought it was.

"If it is going to have a major investment it would be good to have it dualled, which would save having to go back to it in the future.

"But it can't lay on the doorstep of the port because I can't see when and if Bathside Bay will be developed.

"We can't rely on it.

"Both councils and the MP need to urge the Government to bring forward that investment for the dualling."