Rishi Sunak may ban new smart motorways from being built altogether amid safety fears

RISHI Sunak may ban new smart motorways from being built altogether amid safety fears.

They have already been put on pause for five years more research after campaigners said they were death traps.

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But the PM is said to be considering ditching them altogether and not waiting for any more evidence to come in.

It comes after an inquest heard that a crash on a smart motorway that killed two pensioners would not have happened if there had been a hard shoulder.

The i newspaper reported the project would be scaled back significantly - and future routes abandoned.

Derek Jacobs, 83, and Charles Scripps, 78, both died after a crash on the M1 near Sheffield.

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The PM vowed to ban them during last year's leadership race.