Businesses affected by delays on the A14 in Suffolk are being urged to share their experiences as part of a call for improvements to the county’s key east-west transport route.

Suffolk Chamber of Commerce launched its No More A14 Delays in Suffolk campaign last year, after identifying 12 ‘pinch points” along the road which are prone to congestion.

A strategy board set up to drive the case for improvements has now held its first meeting, resulting in an appeal for businesses to provided evidence of how they are being affected.

Stephen Britt, chair of Suffolk Chamber’s transport and infrastructure group, said delays affected businesses in many ways including late deliveries and lost orders as well as difficulties for staff in getting in to work.

“The strategy board has brought together all the major partners in our campaign to build up incontrovertible evidence of the costs of delays on the A14 and to demonstrate the boost to the local and national economy if these are removed,” he added.

Suffolk missed out in the first round of the Government’s Road Investment Strategy (RIS1), involving major road improvements up to 2020, and the No More A14 Delays In Suffolk campaign aims to ensure that the county will benefit from the second round, RIS2, which covers the period from 2020 to 2025.

Mr Britt added: “Our first milestone is to submit evidence about the impact of A14 delays to Highways England by the autumn of this year. That evidence can be both backed by measurable data, but also by anecdotal accounts of the impact that it is having on businesses and communities”.

The first meeting of the campaign strategy board was held at Suffolk Chamber’s offices in Ipswich and was chaired by Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey. Businesses, councils, local enterprise partnerships and representatives from Highways England were also present at the meeting.

Suffolk Chamber is urging anyyone who has experienced delays on the A14 to record the location, the date, the length of time they were delayed and the impact it had on them.

No More A14 Delays in Suffolk accounts have beencreated on Twitter and Facebook to help generate more evidence.