ENGLAND'S worst "pinch point" for lorries is in Hampshire, it emerged today.

The costly congestion at the M3/A34 junction near Winchester tops notorious bottlenecks like Kent's Dartford crossing and junction 10 of the M20 at Ashford.

Another main route has also been identified by road haulage industry bosses as one in urgent need of investment -Southampton to Ashford.

That journey takes in the M27, the A27, A259 and A2070.

The findings come from the Freight Transport Association (FTA), which represents the transport interests of more than 11,000 companies moving goods by road, rail and sea.

It is calling on the government to plough money into easing problems on choked-up routes to help reduce costly delays and pollution.

According to the FTA, a number of roads in the south-east should be upgraded, including the region's top pinch-point near Winchester.

FTA regional policy manager Sarah Watkins said: "Road congestion costs the south-east millions of pounds each year and investment in these key regional trade routes will benefit both industrial efficiency and the regional economy.

"Improving all these roads must be top priority and the government must do all it can to bring forward investment and get on with the job of providing industry with a reliable and efficient transport network so that it can do its job."

The FTA claims the government collects £41 billion in taxation from road users, but spends £6.7 billion on upgrading and maintaining roads.

Gordon Brown is expected to make clear his transport spend settlement in his impending pre-Budget statement.

Also calling for action are Hampshire's business leaders, hard on the heels of a new survey released by the Institute of Directors, which says the transport infrastructure is more of a "hindrance than a help".

Michael Foote, chairman of the Institute of Directors' Hampshire and Isle of Wight branch, said: "Transport matters, not just to us as individuals; it impacts hugely on businesses.

"The current state of our rail and road networks is having a seriously negative impact on business profitability and, therefore, UK GDP growth."

As reported earlier this month by the Daily Echo, a plan to take freight off the roads by putting it on trains from Southampton to the Midlands has suffered a blow.

The £40m rail freight upgrade from the city's docks has yet to get off the ground because of funding priorities elsewhere, even though it is a main plank of the government's regional transport strategy.

Experts say one freight train can carry up to 75 lorry loads, reducing road congestion and pollution.

In a separate development, air pollution at Eastleigh town centre has been found to be way above acceptable levels.

Nitrogen dioxide at Southampton Road, which links to Wide Lane and the M27, was 27 per cent above acceptable levels.

The pollutant is linked to respiratory problems.

More than 100 heavy lorries pass through the town centre every hour, according to findings, and there are fresh calls for them to be banned during rush hours.