Plans for £2.6 million to improve busy junctions along the A595 have been revealed.

Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport, visited West Cumbria today with new Copeland Conservative MP Trudy Harrison.

He announced that £1.6 million will be spent to improve the roundabout at the junction between the A595 and the A66 at Great Clifton and £1 million will be spent to upgrade the Fitz roundabout, near Cockermouth.

He said: "This is the start of what I think needs to be a whole series of improvements.

"These junctions are congested at all times of the day and, especially at rush hour, the traffic builds up.

"When you think about the new nuclear build at Moorside, no improvement is not an option."

Improvements would involve increasing the capacity at the approach to the roundabouts.

Jonathan Reade, project manager at Highways England for Cumbria, said: "Now there's two lanes of traffic on the approach from Cockermouth to Workington, but one lane is short so we're looking at widening them and making them longer.

"The same will happen at the exit towards Workington where at the moment there is just one lane.

"It will make traffic move more efficiently.

"The main demand at the Fitz roundabout is for traffic on the A66 going Eastbound.

"A lot of traffic from Workington either wants to go left to the A595 towards Carlisle or down to Cockermouth on Low Road.

"Again there's short approaches and this work will mean traffic isn't interfering with vehicles wanting to carry on along the A66."

Work is expected to start by spring 2018 and end in 2018/2019.

At hustings events prior to the Copeland by-election, Mrs Harrison pledged that the Government would improve the A595.