Officials from Highways England spent several hours in the heart of Ipswich hearing local concerns about the state of the major roads in the region.

And they promised to try to work with local authorities to try to ease the pressure felt by drivers and to make life easier for motorists.

Suffolk’s cabinet member for highways James Finch also took the opportunity to meet them and to make it clear that there was a need for major investment in the roads in the county.

Highways England Operations Manager Ian Jobson said: “We have major schemes under way which we are telling people about – but we are also getting people’s views on other schemes that may be needed in the near future, schemes that cost up to £10m.

“We have £78m available for these kind of schemes – resurfacing, painting new lines, replacing equipment.”

He said it was important to get the views of road users – who were also telling the Highways England of smaller issues they had the trunk road network in the region.

Highways England brought their roadshow to Ipswich Cornhill after being invited by Mr Finch, who arrived at their stall in the heart of the town after travelling on the free shuttle bus from Endeavour House to the town centre – the service saved by Ipswich Borough after the county council withdrew funding last month.

He said it was very important that Highways England worked closely with the county council which is responsible for all the other roads in Suffolk.

He said: “We have three major priorities for them to look at: Improving the Copdock Interchanging, easing congestion on the Orwell Bridge, and investing in the A14 across Suffolk.

“We need to work closely to make sure that trunk roads and the county council’s network are effective in making journeys easier for motorists across Suffolk.”

Mr Jobson said Highways England was working closely with local authorities to ensure both sides were able to work as efficiently as possible to keep the road network running smoothly.

And Mr Finch added: “We are looking to share things like stocks of grit in the winter and to be able to operate from each other’s depots if necessary in bad weather.”