What's it like living by a 'nightmare' road?

People using a single-lane part of the A120 in Essex have told the BBC it is "horrendous", "intolerable" and "very, very dangerous".

They shared their dismay after the government pulled the plug on funding for long-awaited dualling of a 10-mile (16km) stretch of the road between Braintree and Marks Tey.

Ministers say the project is no longer affordable, but some of those who live, work and travel on the trunk road are angered by the decision and fear for its future sustainability.

How do they feel - and what do they want to be done?

"They've been talking about this since my grandparents were around in the 1950s and 60s, [but] nothing's happened," says Matthew Cowan.

Up to 25,000 vehicles rattle past his garden centre, Poplar Nurseries, which sits next to the A120 in Marks Tey, every day.

Cowan says the situation has taken its toll on some customers.

"There are customers who won't come here because they can't pull out because the road is so busy," he adds.

It is a sentiment shared by Mark Dutton, who runs a gardening machinery branch at the same site.

"Getting in and out is a horrendous nightmare and people will cut across in front of you," Dutton says.

Hearing emergency sirens from his office has become an almost daily occurrence, although sometimes the sound lingers longer than it should.

Dutton explains: "Sometimes they're stopped in stationary traffic.

"Whether it be fire, ambulance or police, you want them to arrive safely, quickly and promptly, which they can't do on this road."

Dutton is also desperate for the creation of two new lanes on the single-carriage road.

He adds: "For many, many years they've said it's going to be dualled and that just hasn't happened, so we're quite disappointed.

"The amount of traffic that's on it at the moment is just intolerable."

At least one person, on average, is killed every year in a crash between Marks Tey and Dunmow, where the road is dualled, on the A120.

The figures, revealed by the Colchester Gazette, found there have been 27 deaths on this part of the road since 2000.

Average speed cameras were installed between Braintree and Marks Tey in 2025 and a new 50mph (80km/h) limit was enforced for most of the route.

Hayley Mann, general manager of roadside pub the Kings Arms, suggests the introduction of the speed cameras has not lessened the danger and insists the route must be dualled.

"We had a crash about a week or two weeks ago [with] six cars all piled up there," she says, looking out the window.

"We have guests when they're trying to pull out [they just] sit there for ages. When it's bad, it's bad."

The road holds particular importance due to it having Harwich International Port and London Stansted Airport at either end.

For Paul Thorogood, who represents the Green Party on Essex County Council, the worst spot is two miles (3.2km) west of the Kings Arms - at the Colne Road junction by Coggeshall.

He says: "There's little scrapes and minor accidents every day.

"There have been some serious ones over the years but the reality is a lot of people are fearful of that junction because of the level of traffic.

"It's horrible, really horrible."

A Facebook post by Braintree MP Sir James Cleverly revealed the government had pulled its support for the dualling scheme.

In a letter to the Conservative from roads and buses minister Simon Lightwood, he was told future funding was "highly unlikely" due to "affordability and deliverability challenges".

Sir James told the BBC: "A modern, dualled road would mean safer journeys, quicker travel times and would unlock a corridor of economic opportunity.

"Labour have not just delayed this scheme, they have removed it entirely and people are rightly angered by this move."

However, critics have pointed out that it was the last Conservative government, of which Sir James was a senior member, that first delayed the scheme.

A government source said: "James Cleverly has got his facts wrong - not for the first time.

"The previous government, in which both he and [Witham MP] Priti Patel served, repeatedly delayed the A12 and refused to fund the A120.

"Local residents should be asking why their MP failed to convince their own party to back investment in Essex's roads."

The Department for Transport has been contacted for comment.

Do you have a story suggestion for Essex? Contact us below.

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.