Prime Minister must deliver on bypass pledge, say campaigners

The two villages near Oswestry are cut in two by the busy A483 and villagers have been calling for a bypass for decades.

When the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, launched the Welsh Conservatives’ election manifesto on the Shropshire/Welsh border he said that a bypass for the villages was a must and the construction of the road was also included in the printed manifesto.

Now Mike Catt, one of the leading lights in the campaign for a bypass, said he hoped the government will be quick to act on its promise.

He said that local MPs had always supported the campaign.

“They have worked tirelessly on our behalf and it was good to see the bypass included in the manifesto. What we now need is for the Government to convert its words into action. We want to hold them accountable, this has been going on for too many years.”

Mr Catt said there was now so much traffic and so many heavy goods vehicles driving through the villages it was getting too dangerous to walk along the pavements.

He said: “At the weekend there was a collision between a transit van and an abnormal load which resulted in a wing mirror flying out on to the pavement. That debris could have seriously injured someone. We have had enough.”

The new MP for Montgomeryshire, Craig Williams, said that in his first few days in Westminster he had already started work to press for a bypass.

“I have spoken with my colleague, North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson, and we will be pressing ministers.”