A third road off Canvey has been put on the backburner because other routes in north Essex are a priority, a county councillor has admitted.

Rodney Bass, county cabinet member for transport, revealed Canvey was losing out to the Great Notley bypass from Braintree to Marks Tey.

The comments fly in the face of transport studies which say south Essex's transport network is in need of urgent investment to cope with development in the Thames Gateway.

Mr Bass (Con, Tollesbury) told a meeting looking at transport projects yesterday: "The Canvey access is not an immediate priority.

"The A120 is our main priority and on the local network, it is the Great Notley bypass."

Castle Point Tory councillor Ray Howard asked about plans for Canvey after an hour long discussion on the route the A120 from Braintree to Marks Tey should take. They hope to have that open by 2013.

Mr Bass said: "We will concentrate on that. We are not going to jeopardise the timetable of the A120 by not having agreed a definitive route.

"I will not be diverted."