The Government is to press ahead with plans to allow motorists to use motorway hard shoulders as part of a bid to increase capacity.

And the M20 between junction 3 at Addington and junction 5 at Aylesford has been selected as among the motorways to be altered “in the longer term”.

The decision was among a package of transport improvements announced by Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon that will see £6 billion spent on road upgrades in the South East.

The Government’s plans include a new junction on the M20, junction 10a, at Ashford. In addition the M25 will be widened between junctions 16 and 23.

Hard-shoulder running will also be introduced on the M25, between junctions 5 and 7 and on the M23 between junctions 8 and 10.

Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said: “We have successfully and safely opened up the motorway hard shoulder on the M42 at busy times, giving us confidence that we can do the same elsewhere on the network. This will deliver more reliable journey times and add a third more capacity - at a lower cost than a more conventional road widening scheme, and with fewer environmental impacts.”