TRANSPORT chiefs are to leave the comfort of their Whitehall offices and sit in rush hour traffic on the A32 Fareham to Gosport Road in a bid to crack down on congestion.

Department for Transport civil servants will pile into a car and join frustrated drivers on their way to work next week as part of an impact study after local councillors again voiced their concerns on the gridlocked road.

Before Christmas, Richard Williams, from Gosport's Labour party, raised persistent traffic problems with roads minister David Jamieson, stating that the A32 was the most congested road in Hampshire and "one of the worst in the country".

Now he is delighted that transport officers are coming to see for themselves just how dismal the problem is when they do their dummy run on Thursday next week.

Mr Williams said: "The civil servants will really be 'driving the course' and will get to sit in the appalling traffic.

"They will see just how awful it is for drivers and can discern what needs to be done, taking everything into account first hand."

He added: "The dismal traffic has been like this for years and is getting worse as time passes. We need action on this problem and I am very pleased that the government is responding to this very serious issue. Something has got to be done."

As well as monitoring volume and flow of traffic for their study, transport officers will be looking at the growth of traffic on the A32 over the years and the impact that any widening or road improvements will have on housing.

It is hoped that with future improvements to the A32 and renewed hopes for the light rapid transit in place, the driver's route from Gosport to Fareham and back could be a lot more bearable in future.

Paul Watters, head of roads and transport at the Hampshire-based AA Motoring Trust, said: "The A32 clearly shows a bad need for infrastructure and not just with roads.

"This congestion increases everyone's costs and makes day-to-day lives a misery. It can't go on. If civil servants are going to monitor the road then that is to be commended but it can't just be words. It must be matched with funding."

A Department for Transport spokeswoman confirmed the visit. "Senior officials will be visiting the region to discuss a whole range of transport issues as part of our ongoing regular dialogue with local authorities," she said.