Leicestershire MP asks Chancellor to take action on A5 bridge

Dr Luke Evans, Member of Parliament for Bosworth has asked Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer for funding to fix a railway bridge in Hinckley.

The bridge on the A5, not far from the Lime Kilns was recently name Britain's 'most-bashed' after being hit 25 times between 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. 

Asking the Chancellor in response to his Spending Review speech Dr Evans said “In light of the difficulties that the country faces with it's finances I was pleased to see the commitment to infrastructure, but practically is he aware of the Hinckley bridge on the A5 which has been awarded the most bashed bridge in Britain it's been hit 25 times and causes a delay of 6 hours every time.

This is a prime example of pinch points littered up and down the A5 which strangles productivity. So will he commit to providing funds to the likes of the A5 to bring prosperity to the Midlands and grow our economy out of the COVID situation?”

In his response Mr Sunak stated that taking action on the bridge was “a very good example of the type of project our new Levelling Up Fund would be interested in, and I look forward to discussing it with him (Dr Evans) further.”

Dr Evans said after asking his question “I shall be contacting the Treasury straight away to ask for the Chancellor to make some time to discuss financial support to improve the bridge in his incredibly busy diary.

“Rishi is doing a wonderful job of resetting the economy in the wake of COVID and I support him wholeheartedly, at the same time I won’t ever stop making the case for Hinckley and Bosworth. And the people who elected me.”

Dr Evans says he will be requesting a meeting with the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the earliest opportunity. His question follows meetings with Baroness Vere, the roads minister; and letters to the Secretary of State for Transport.