Kier currently holds the contract, which is a 10-year deal expiring at the end of September 2023.

The council is enticing contractors with the prospect of a long-term 20-year deal for the highways maintenance services, worth around £50m a year.

The initial contract length is anticipated to be 10 years from October 2023 to September 2033 with the option to extend for up to a further 10 years.

Suffolk council said that it recognised the challenges involved in delivering highways services as well as the many possible approaches, lessons learned and improvements that it wanted to adopt in developing its own strategy.

As a key part of the procurement the council aims to embed social benefits and its aim to be carbon net zero by 2030.

Interested parties should contact the council for a copy of pre-market engagementus questionaire ahead of the Project Launch Session and/or one-to-one discussions to be held on 27-28 January.