Tory leader William Hague today threw his weight behind calls for a new Southend outer bypass.

On a whistle-stop tour of Southend, the former Welsh Secretary backed the blueprint to ease the borough's transportation crisis.

He said MP Sir Teddy Taylor had put forward some "very powerful and persuasive" arguments for a bypass, although he conceded it was a big project.

Mr Hague added: "You have to look at this issue in the context of unemployment in Southend East.

"There, you have unemployment which is much higher than the national average - male unemployment is at 10 per cent which is very high.

"It is very difficult to get firms to relocate to those areas because the traffic has to come through the whole town."

Mr Hague met with residents, councillors and Tory candidates at Cuckoo Corner, a notorious traffic blackspot in central Southend.

He was told by councillors how the town's east to west links will be crippled when repair works start on a nearby bridge in the summer.

Part of the road will be cut to one-way, controlled by temporary traffic lights.

Conservative leaders also spoke of their disbelief after the Government slashed Southend's basic highways budget by a staggering £600,000.

Mr Hague said: "This is another example of the Government saying it wants to improve transport, but doing the opposite.

"If you look at the budget with the increase in fuel bills, motorists get hit and local authorities get put in a worse position for trying to help without any public transport initiatives in its place.

"I think the Government is producing a stand-still country."

Mr Hague praised Southend Tories for pressing ahead with proposals to improve the state of the roads.

He said: "Here, there is obviously a strong case that Conservatives are putting to remove the build-outs on the corner of roads.

"They also believe the last bit of the A127 should be dualled and they want to look at a park and ride scheme with other local authorities.

"These are all very good examples of the national initiatives that filter down to each local area."

William Hague took today's opportunity to rally Southend Conservatives, declaring: "We can take control of the council in May."

Mr Hague, on a visit to the town, praised councillors and candidates for their work and warned them to prepare for the battle ahead.

On tour - Verina Wilson, Charles Latham and Jonathon Garston with Tory leader William Hague

Picture: MAXINE CLARKE

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.