The A50 is a major trunk road in England between Leicester and Warrington; historically it was the designation for a major route from London to Leicester.

The A50 runs west-northwest from Leicester to the M1. After a northbound concurrency, the A50 departs the M1.

The segment of the A50 from the M1 west-northwest to Stoke-on-Trent is dual carriageway, mostly built to near-motorway standards and providing access to Derby; in Stoke, it connects with other near-motorways, providing two direct connections to the M6.

The A50 departs the near-motorway within Stoke, travelling northwest as a mostly single carriageway route, ultimately terminating in Warrington.

The A50 runs from the City of Leicester to junction 22 of the M1 at Markfield. From there the route is concurrent with the M1 until it departs at the M1's junctions 24 and 24A near Kegworth.

The A50 then travels west-northwest as a near-motorway standard (lacking hard shoulders) dual carriageway. Crossing from Leicestershire into Derbyshire, the route runs south of the city of Derby.

Losing full access control, the route continues through Derbyshire into Staffordshire with a mix of interchanges and at-grade roundabouts.

Just before reaching Stoke-on-Trent, the A50 resumes its controlled-access, near-motorway status.