Tex Pemberton (Con, Fernhurst) West Sussex County Council's cabinet member for highways and transport, had a meeting with Roads Minister Tom Harris on (Wednesday February 20).

Safety schemes for the A24 between Ashington and Southwater and from Horsham to Capel in Surrey were discussed.

Also, improvements at Chichester, Arundel, and Worthing-Lancing were all on the agenda for the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by Nick Herbert, the MP for Arundel and South Downs, and representatives from the Highways Agency.

Lt-Col Pemberton said afterwards: "The Minister was well aware of the issues of congestion, pollution and accidents that we face on the A27 and A24, and I do believe that we are much closer to some realistic solutions."

Concerning the A24 Ashington-Southwater section, he told the minister that although the scheme is listed towards the end of the 2011-2016 programme, the county council's major improvement scheme had planning permission and could be ready to go earlier.

The scheme involves shutting 28 central reservation gaps and replacing them with three new junctions.

Lt-Col Pemberton said: "I stressed to the minister that there have been 1,243 casualties on the A24 in the last ten years of which 32 were fatal. Our scheme is designed to save lives, and at £35m is a relatively cheap option."

Concerning the A24 Horsham-Capel section, he also pressed the case for an early start post 2016 on the proposed £80m joint West Sussex and Surrey County Council scheme to improve the section of road between Horsham and Capel.