THE HARD shoulder of a Hampshire motorway could be used as an extra lane of traffic to help ease congestion.

The changes would be made on the M27 between Southampton and Fareham, with variable speed limits also being introduced on that stretch of carriageway.

Funding has been secured for the work by the the Department for Transport.

The cash is going to come out of a £28bn fund first announced in the government’s infrastructure spending review a fortnight ago.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has said the investment will be enshrined in law, to make sure the scheme goes ahead regardless of who wins the next General Election.

Mr McLoughlin said: "Our major roads are vital to the prosperity of our nation, connecting people to jobs and businesses to markets. They carry a third of all traffic and two-thirds of all freight traffic but in recent decades we have failed to invest properly in them."