Work to widen key sections of the M25 as part of a £6.2 billion contract to improve and maintain England’s busiest motorway - creating thousands of new construction jobs - was officially started today by Transport Minister Sadiq Khan.

The crucial progress comes just weeks after the Highway Agency awarded the Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) contract, one of the UK's biggest ever transport contracts, to the private sector consortium Connect Plus.

The work to widen two sections of the M25 between junctions 16 and 23 - from the M40 to the A1 (M) and junctions 27 and 30 - from the M11 to the Dartford River Crossing - is being delivered under this contract.

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The Transport Minister today witnessed early progress on widening 22 miles of the motorway between junctions 16 and 23 from three lanes to four in both directions.

Mr Khan said: "Today marks a major step forward in our commitment to 'Building Britain's Future' and increasing capacity on the busiest sections of motorways and trunk roads.

"This vital scheme will tackle the nuisance of congestion, improve journey time reliability and safety and help boost the productivity of our businesses. Everyone who uses these important stretches of motorway, whether business or leisure travellers, will benefit from the massive investment.

"It is also a huge boost to the economy - the construction schemes will employ between 3,500 and 4,000 people until 2012 in addition to around 850 people employed on the 30-year operations and maintenance work.

"I am delighted to officially mark the start of works on this scheme and congratulate the Highways Agency on successfully delivering the contract award which represents excellent value for money and will provide huge benefits for decades to come."

(CD/JM)