Councillors near Bridgnorth to draft up legal document on 'particularly dangerous' road

Members of Highley Parish Council’s village maintenance working group met at the Severn Centre in Bridgnorth Road on Tuesday night to discuss whether they could force the authority into action under Section 56 of the Highways Act 1980.

Following the meeting, members said they would draft a document focusing on a “particularly dangerous” section of the B4555 Chelmarsh Road, known locally as the King’s Arms Corner.

Shropshire councillor for Highley, Dave Tremellen, said the move was a last-ditch attempt to address the problem.

But Shropshire Council said it had already planned works to take place on sections of the B4555 in March.

Councillor Tremellen, an Independent, said: “Section 56 of the act requires someone to come forward focusing on a specific section of the road.

“Neither the parish council nor its road maintenance subgroup can take action under the act so it will most likely have to be in my name and we will focus on that particularly dangerous corner.

"I’ve had people contact me from Shrewsbury in light of this saying ‘well done’, and I think that highlights the problem throughout the county.

“But as far as roads around Highley go, I can’t see what else we can do. We don’t want to come down hard on anyone at the council but I cannot for the life of me see what choice we have.

“Every time I raise the issue at Shirehall it’s like an echo. The situation goes back years and nothing has been done.”

This follows local MP Philip Dunne branding the county’s roads as among the worst in the country and pledging to lobby the Government Roads Minister for an earlier allocation of pothole-repair funding to Shropshire Council.

A statement from Shropshire Council said: "We will wait to receive and read the concerns of Highley Parish Council. However, we have already agreed with them, and with Councillor Tremellen, to carry out patching work on the B4555 and some adjacent roads on March 3 and 4.”