Multimillion pound plans to improve one of the district’s busiest roads are set to be scrapped.

Essex County Council will confirm the cancellation of the £3.6million revamp of the A131 between Braintree and Sudbury during an accountability board meeting tomorrow.

A report published ahead of the meeting says a decision has been made to “pause” the scheme as Highways can no longer provide the funding needed to complete the project.

County Hall had set aside £1.8million for the works, with the remaining funding coming from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership.

However, Highways will now need to send the money back to the partnership and will also need to refund the £100,000 which has already been spent on the project.

The improvement scheme included plans to widen four entry lanes at the Marks Farm roundabout in Braintree, along with adding a left turn sliproad from the A120 heading south.

Further improvements were also lined up for the Broad Road roundabout, the junction in High Garrett and the introduction of new signage at Plaistow Green and Bulmer Tye were also in the pipeline.

The report which outlines the proposed decision to cancel the works states: “In reaching this decision, Essex County Council considered options to decrease the scope of the project, however, it was felt that the part delivery of the project could not deliver sufficient benefit and that the project should either be delivered in its entirety or not at all.

“As such, an Essex County Council cabinet member decision has been taken to pause the delivery of the project until sufficient funding is identified to complete the project in full.”

The improvements to the A131 were put forward to improve journey times and safety for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.

It was also hoped the scheme would bolster the road ahead of the 1,550 new homes which are expected to be built in the coming years.

Council papers say the delivery of the homes was not directly dependant on the improvement project and future applications would continue to be considered on a “case by case” basis.

A spokesman said: “Essex County Council has undertaken a substantive review of its own capital programme in order to reduce its capital expenditure.

“As a result a pause has been placed on funding for some highways projects, which has resulted in Local Growth Fund finance being reallocated away from these projects planned under the South East Local Enterprise Partnership.

“Practical reality has led to this action, none of the projects had started delivery on the ground and this policy reflects the current constrained nature of financial resources.”