FEWER accidents would happen on the A12 if it was two lanes wide for its duration, an inquiry heard.

Michael Selfe, former county surveyor of Essex and currently representing the RAC Foundation, said yesterday that he would prefer to see the road reduced in width to two lanes throughout because of the risk of accidents when the road narrows from three lanes to two.

He told the third and final day of the inquiry that while he favoured widening the trunk road to three lanes throughout, if that could not be afforded, then the focus should be on adding safety features such as hard shoulders and more laybys where needed.

The independent inquiry, chaired by former permanent secretary of the Department of Transport Sir David Rowlands, is due to report its recommendations by the end of July.

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