DRIVERS using the main motorway route between England and Scotland face travel disruption over the summer as a £40 million upgrade begins.

Work is to be carried out on the A74/M74 over the next five years, with improvements to the carriageway, which is more than 20 years old in places.

More than 30,000 vehicles a day use the road, but the project will see an area equivalent to 200 football fields resurfaced. The section of the road between junction 22 Gretna and junction 12 Millbank will be upgraded over the next five years.

The work will be done by Autolink, which has a contract with the Scottish Government's transport agency, Transport Scotland, for the road.

A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: "We are working closely with local communities to ensure they are kept abreast of these works. Our aim is to minimise disruption but traffic management is essential."