A5 upgrade given the go-ahead by NI Executive

The Northern Ireland Executive has given the green light to upgrading the A5 road.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly paid tribute to campaigners and many families of those who had lost loved ones on the stretch of road.

There have been 57 deaths on the road, which links Londonderry with Aughnacloy in Co Tyrone, since 2006.

A scheme to turn the road into a dual carriageway was first approved by the Executive in 2007 but it has been held up by legal challenges and uncertainty over funding.

Work will begin on the Strabane to Ballygawley section early next year, Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd said at a press conference at Stormont.

He said it will take an estimated five years of "intensive" construction work followed by "some continuing work".