CALLS have been made for smart motorway works on the M27 to be paused whilst a government review is carried out.

MP for Southampton Test, Alan Whitehead told the Echo that he thinks the works on the M27 should be halted whilst a review takes place on how to make the scheme safer.

This comes as The Department for Transport has announced today that all new smart motorway schemes will be paused until a full five years’ of safety data is available.

Preparations have been taking place for works totalling £139m to convert the M3 between Junction 9 and Junction 14 into a smart motorway, with cameras fitted along the carriageway.

But now the Echo understands this will be halted in response to today's announcement.

Mr Whitehead questioned why works on the M27 were being allowed to continue if the nearby M3 is due to be paused.

He said: “Firstly, I welcome the pause because there were real issues about the safety of vehicles no longer having a hard shoulder and this leading to a large number of accidents on the motorway.

“But that was partly because of where the refuge is to which people could go were placed and how many there were.

“I would have thought it would be the right thing to pause the M27 works whilst this review is being conducted or revise the M27 works so that there are more frequent refuges across the motorway area.

“I know that would be a bit more costly but cost isn’t the issue, the safety of motorways is the paramount issue.”

The MP added that if the work on the M27 is allowed to continue, this will only result in it having to be reviewed in future.

The review comes as the Department for Transport invests £900 million to improve safety on existing All Lane Running (ALR) motorways.

After five years of data has been collected, the Government is expected to make a decision on what to do going forward.

Southampton Itchen MP, Royston Smith said: “The Transport Select Committee has done a great deal of work on smart motorways.

"I felt that some of their findings were contradictory but I would prefer the government to err on the side of caution when it comes to safety."

This comes as smart motorway schemes have been criticised for their safety due to the lack of a hard shoulder.

But the Department for Transport says available data shows smart motorways are “comparatively the safest roads in the country in terms of fatality rates”.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Pausing schemes yet to start construction and making multi-million-pound improvements to existing schemes will give drivers confidence and provide the data we need to inform our next steps.”