Plans to reduce congestion on Britain’s busiest motorway could cost taxpayers an extra £1 billion a report has claimed.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said the £3.4 billion contract for widening the M25 in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex was "poor".

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Public Accounts Committee chairman Margaret Hodge MP said: "The agency should not have focused just on widening but also have given proper consideration to a much cheaper alternative, hard shoulder running. A private finance project intended to transfer risk to the private sector should not have restricted innovation by ruling out this alternative solution."

However, Highways Agency Chief Executive Graham Dalton said: "We note the conclusions reached by the Public Accounts Committee and will act on its recommendations."

(CD/GK)