SOUTHAMPTON'S rush-hour traffic jams are the worst in the country outside London.

The city's motorists spend nearly half their rush-hour journeys crawling along at less than 10 miles per hour, according to a government survey of congestion in England's towns and cities published this week.

And Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has told the Daily Echo in an exclusive interview he would be looking at a £40 million City Council bid to sort the chaos out.

Speaking before opening the Millennium Youth Games in Southampton yesterday, he said: "We want to see the local authority produce their own local transport plans.

"They have to put a proposal to me and I have to give the resources for it.

"I have set targets for reducing congestion." Mr Prescott, pictured below, declined to comment on possible solutions for the city but said a pilot scheme on the M4 showed permanent speed limits were effective in improving traffic flow on busy motorways.

"I know what the M4 proved in the experiment. You can go slower and get there quicker," he said.

He added Southampton would benefit from a 50 per cent increase in investment in rail services and infrastructure because train operators were required to boost investment under new rail franchises.

Southampton City Council's bid was put in under Transport 2010, a £180 billion scheme to improve Britain's transport network, announced by Mr Prescott in July.

The five-year plan to improve the city's road network and boost public transport includes:

Road maintenance works.

Traffic-calming measures.

Road safety improvements.

New bus shelters.

Improving links between bus and rail services.

The government will decide on the bid in December.

Steve Atkins, head of development, policy and planning, said: "I am a little surprised at these results. We are investigating when and where the surveys took place.

"Nevertheless, we are disappointed that traffic does not move better in Southampton compared with other cities."

The data had been "atypical" as the survey coincided with major roadworks on the M27 that would have pushed more motorists onto the city's road work. The city council would be taking the matter up with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, he added.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.