Senior council staff and a local MP will discuss plans to widen the M6 through Staffordshire at a top-level meeting in London.

County council chiefs and Stafford MP David Kidney will meet transport minister John Spellar in Whitehall on Monday 10 February.

The work to expand the motorway to four lanes in each direction between the Midlands and North West is not expected to start for between seven and 10 years.

But the meeting will highlight the need to minimise the environmental impact on Staffordshire when the widening work between Cannock and Lymm takes place.

Large project

"The county council is the strategic highways authority and as such welcomes the proposal to widen the M6," said council leader Terry Dix.

"It is important for the economy of Staffordshire to have good transport links through the county.

"This will be a large project and will affect people who live in the immediate vicinity of the works."

The �1bn plans unveiled in December were condemned by environmentalists, who said the money would be better spent on improving rail links and encouraging people not to use their cars.