MORE lorries will be taken off the road after a new agreement between the Port of Tilbury and one of the UK's largest asphalt suppliers was completed.

The Port and FM Conway, the largest independent supplier of asphalt in the south east, have announced they have extended an existing agreement for a further five years to load aggregate for FM Conway's facility at Theale in Berkshire and that it will see a doubling of rail freight with two trains leaving Tilbury each week from this month (January).

Trains will leave the Tilbury each week on Tuesdays and Fridays taking more than 3,000 tons of aggregate by rail to Theale to be used on the UK's highway network and other construction projects.

Thousands of tons of material is arriving by vessel into the port each month from Norway and then distributed across the south east to keep at pace with demand.

Commenting on the increased service and agreement, Mark Faraway, Senior Commercial Manager from The Port of Tilbury said: "This is great news to start the year. Our bulks business at The Port of Tilbury is thriving as we have the key ingredients to ensure an efficient and greener supply chain for our customers.

"We have a good relationship with the team at FM Conway and we are pleased that we can continue this for the next five years."

FM Conway A&A business development director Tim Metcalf, said: "Working together with the Port of Tilbury and other supply chain partners allows us to significantly reduce carbon emissions and road traffic in the south east. We look forward to our continued successful working relationship with the port."