A £145 million programme to tackle congestion and improve safety at junctions across England's trunk roads and motorways aims to wipe out bottlenecks suffered by fleet drivers within five years.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling claims the 92 schemes strike a perfect balance, by improving journey times for drivers and helping the environment by cutting congestion.

Locations where problems have been identified range from major motorway junctions to congested dual-carriageway roundabouts.

Darling said: 'The package will address some serious bottlenecks which currently cause major delays. The Highways Agency has already delivered almost 100 small scale schemes as part of the 10 Year Plan for Transport and this year has so far opened four major schemes.'

The move came amid claims the Government could be about to encourage local authorities to introduce more 20mph limits throughout the country to reduce accident rates. But officials said a response to an All-Party Transport Select Committee report on speeding had been 'misunderstood' and there were no plans to force through lower speed limits.