A SCRAPYARD boss says “appalling and slow” roads in the Southend area have forced his company to move to two new bases in the south east.

The manager at Motorhog, who did not wish to be named, slammed the congested roads, particularly the A127, and said they were holding back the business and preventing it from developing.

The firm, which has 20 branches across the country, will move its Rochford premises to new sites at Paddock Wood in Tunbridge Wells and Thurrock to exploit the faster M25 and open up potential new markets in the south of the country, particularly the south coast.

All the employees at the Brickfield Way premises are set to move with the firm.

The firm’s manager said: “As you can imagine, London and the Home Counties provides us with so much work. The A127 is the main problem, it is just so slow and the constant roadworks are holding up our business.

“The transport links into Rochford in particular are appalling and it is slowing down our lorries. The company is being held back.”

However, he said the move would provide the business, which operates 50 vehicle transport lorries a day, a bright and exciting future.

He added: “It is a good story for us. It is really exciting for us as far as we are concerned and will help us with our expansion plans and enable us to loosen the reins.”

He believed the A127 needed to become three lanes to accommodate all the traffic using it.

“It is just horrendous and it is restricting what is an extremely fast growing business. It is not cost effective for us to stay here and it is restrictive because of the transport links.

“It is a sad state of affairs, but it seems to me that road links are overlooked and they restrict business. We need to be fast, we need to be effective.”