THE Government’s roads minister has backed a campaigning Tory MP’s bid to “can the cones”and ease pressure caused by roadworks in south Essex.

Rayleigh and Wickford MP , Mark Francois, said he had made it his mission to tackle the alarming regularity with which roadworks gridlock the region’s roads.

He claims constituents are “heartily sick and tired” of the amount of roadworks they have had to endure in recent years.

Earlier this year, the Conservative MP published his Roadworks (Regulation) Bill, which is designed to curtail the seemingly endless increase of roadworks and “can the cones.”

His proposed Bill has little chance of becoming law but following a recent meeting with roads minister, Richard Holden, he has now issued a public statement in support of the Essex MP’s campaign.

The minister said: “Mark Francois has hit the nail on the head with his campaign to ‘can the cones’.

“Delays to road works and the disruption its causes is unacceptable. I welcome the proposals contained in Mark’s Roadworks Bill to increase fines on road works that run over time and for greater cooperation between authorities.”

This week it was also revealed that Essex is the worst region for roadworks in the UK, according to new analysis. Councils in Essex revealed that a staggering 77,423 roadworks were carried out between April 2021 and March 2022.

Mr Francois added that he will continue to press the minister on progress with tackling the issue.

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He added: “Realistically, my Roadworks (Regulation) Bill is unlikely to make it onto the Statute Book for lack of Parliamentary time.

“Nevertheless, I am trying to persuade Department for Transport ministers to adopt some the ideas it contains, in order to speed up roadworks and increase the fines, including up to ten per cent of their annual turnover for persistent offenders, for companies that overrun their allocated time to complete the job, thus causing a lot more disruption than is strictly necessary.

“So, I will continue to press ministers for at least some progress on the subject of roadworks, not just locally but hopefully further afield as well.”