Bus and rail services in Norfolk missing out on vital cash

They say the region is at risk of being left behind other areas, which have seen huge investment in transport schemes like HS2 and new tram routes.

Figures show that just £621 per head is spent on transport in the east, less than the national average and well below the £1,212 in London and £688 in the West Midlands.

A group of MPs and council leaders from the area raised their concerns at a specially-convened summit in Westminster yesterday.

MPs have demanded that the government invests in Ely junction improvements. Pic: Chris Bishop (Image: Chris Bishop)

It came just days after new fears were raised about the state of public transport in the region, with new figures showing the bus network had shrunk by more than a third in less than a decade.

At yesterday's event, members of the East of England All Party Parliamentary Group told ministers they are fed up with seeing money, including from the government's levelling-up fund go to other parts of the country.

While Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn got money in the latest round of levelling-up funding, projects in Norwich, Hunstanton and Breckland were rejected.

Waveney MP Peter Aldous Pic: Parliament Live (Image: Parliament Live)

As well as transport concerns, the MPs also raised fears about local spending on health, with is just £2,889 per head compared with £3,236 nationally.

Peter Aldous, Waveney MP and co-chair of the East of England group, said: "Now is the time for real, tangible action on levelling-up that will make a positive difference in the next twelve months for residents the length and breadth of the region.

"On health, there should be recognition the funding formula must reflect the fact the population grew more here in the last 10 years than anywhere else."

Levelling-up minister Dehenna Davison

Dehenna Davison, levelling-up minister, previously pledged: "Ensuring the east of England reaches its potential really is core to the prospects of the United Kingdom as a whole."