Relief road pause disappointing - Tory leader

Dan Thomas, leader of the seven Conservatives on the council, said the road would have been a "vital infrastructure project"

A decision to suspend work on a planned bypass has been met with disappointment by those who wanted to see it built.

Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road was proposed by Shropshire Council's previous Conservative administration, but the authority is now run by the Liberal Democrats who believe the £215m scheme is unaffordable and want to scrap it.

Dan Thomas, the leader of the seven Conservative councillors to survive the elections in May, said it would have been a "vital infrastructure project".

He said the Lib Dems should "go back to the government with the business case" for the road was crucial to tackling congestion in Shrewsbury and surrounding villages.

Thomas described the project as a "once in a lifetime improvement to Shropshire".

The Lib- Dems, who took over power from the Tories in May's election, believe the scheme is unviable and are urging the government not to recall the £39m already spent on it

On Thursday, the council took the decision to pause work, so talks could take place with the government about scrapping the project.

Heather Kidd, leader of the authority, said the scheme was "simply unaffordable", and she also wanted to secure guarantees the council would not have to return the £39m from the government that has already been spent.

Thomas said his party had been confident in getting the funding needed because a "real business case" had been proposed.

He also said the Tories' dramatic defeat had not been because the relief road was unpopular.

"It wasn't just a referendum on the North West Relief Road," Thomas added.