DEVELOPERS behind building a new town which could eventually include more than 16,000 homes have backed plans to expand the A120 through Coggeshall.

The partnership tasked with building West Tey, a garden settlement on land near Marks Tey between Colchester and Braintree, including landowners Gateway120, developers L&Q Group, and promotion company Cirrus Land Limited, responded to Essex County Council's consultation about dualling the road.

They believe Option A, which starts to the west of Galleys Corner in Braintree, would route on part of the existing A120 and extend to the north of Coggeshall before finishing on the A12 between Kelvedon and Marks Tey, is the best plan of the nine put forward by highways experts.

Director of Cirrus Land Robert Vestentoft said: "The dualling of the A120 offers an opportunity to plan for the future of north Essex, both in terms of growing the local economy and delivering much needed housing.

"The West Tey team have been campaigning to have the road upgraded for years and we feel that alongside it a well-designed new garden community could thrive.

"We believe route option A provides the best combination of deliverability and economic benefits.

"It uses significant sections of the existing road corridor meaning that the environmental impact from construction is reduced and a significant part of the road could be built on land under the control of the Gateway 120 consortium, which will mean fewer communities being impacted by compulsory purchase."