Campaigners calling for the A47 Acle Straight to be dualled have been told the demand will be included in a major transport review.

Earlier this month Mick Castle and Ron Ellis of the Dual the Acle Straight group, had written letters to Boris Johnson, the secretary of state for transport Grant Shapps and the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy Kwasi Kwarteng calling for them to take action.

%image(14423383, type="article-full", alt="Mick Castle said: "As a young man I collected signatures in the 1980s for an earlier petition to get this road dualled. It beggars belief that our calls have still not been heeded after all these years."")

In their letter the group said "it beggars belief" the Acle Straight had not been dualled yet and that there was widespread support for the road to be improved.

It follows the group setting up a petition demanding the stretch of the A47 be dualled.

Mr Castle and Mr Ellis have now received a reply from the Department of Transport saying their views and petition will be included in developing evidence for a national roads strategy from 2025.

The reply adds: "The route strategies review the performance, pressures and opportunities on every part of the network, including the A47 in general and the Acle Straight in particular, where the significant environmental constraints that exist along this section will form part of the consideration."

Mr Castle said: "I am heartened to get an initial response from the Department for Transport - clearly it is within our capability to get the road into the next highways programme 2025-30.

"We still await separate responses from the prime minister's office and Kwasi Kwarteng's Department of Business, Energy and Economic Strategy.

"The success of the campaign is going to be determined by the strength of the case that local MPs, councils and the business community can build and the added benefit of public consensus that the Acle Straight needs dualling on economic and road safety grounds."

%image(14423384, type="article-full", alt="Ron Ellis, Independent candidate for Yarmouth North and Central.")

You can sign the group's petition by visiting petition.parliament.uk/petitions/581055

There are now three petitions calling for the Acle Straight to be dualled, collecting at least 5,000 signatures between them.

A separate 'Just Dual It!' campaign is spearheaded by the Eastern Daily Press and its sister paper the Great Yarmouth Mercury.

It aims for all the A47 to be dualled in our region.