'Relief road will cut crashes in our village'

Shirlie and Roger Briers said there have been numerous accidents near their home in Fitz

A couple living on a rat-run route outside Shrewsbury believe a new bypass will help cut crashes near their home.

Planning permission for Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road has however raised concerns about the environmental impact.

But Shirlie and Roger Briers, from Fitz near Bomere Heath, say the hamlet has been spoiled by increasing traffic since they moved in 27 years ago.

"The roads are so narrow and it's downright dangerous," Mrs Briers said.

Mr and Mrs Briers are among many in the villages north of Shrewsbury who believe the road has been too long in the planning, and just want it built.

"We've had a vehicle up the side of of our garden," Mrs Briers said.

"We've had people turn their vehicle over and knock our fence down."

The couple said they were pleased that jobs had been brought to the Battlefield and Harlescott areas in north Shrewsbury, but traffic had grown "exponentially" in the decades since they moved in.

Martin Coales believes the new road will relieve traffic through Bomere Heath

In nearby Bomere Heath, Martin Coales said traffic levels had also increased over the 40 years he's lived in the village.

"From Harlescott to Montford Bridge and Ruyton-XI-Towns, this is the only reasonable way of going there at the moment", he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

Mr Coales said of the new road: "It won't stop it all, but I'm sure it will help."

Shropshire Council's own modelling of the traffic impact suggests one of the routes into Shrewsbury from Bomere, Huffley Lane, will see a 33% reduction in peak traffic levels, but another, Berwick Road, could see a rise of 180%.

Will Reid lives near the route and is "incredibly sad" about the road being built

Closer to the route of the new road, people have been left angry about the decision, not least because of the environmental impact it will have.

"I can't really understand, apart from the money, why you'd want to destroy such a lovely spot," said Will Reid, who lives in Shelton.

Business case

He estimates his house is 70m (230ft) from the proposed road, and is especially concerned about a new bridge over the River Severn that he would be able to see from his window.

"[At the moment] you can see right over the fields, you can even see the river almost all the way down to town," he said.

Although Shropshire Council sees the planning permission granted on Tuesday as a key step in the process - along with extra funding announced last month - the authority says building work is unlikely to start before mid-2025.

It is drawing up a full business case for the road, which will be debated by the full council next year before being submitted to the Department for Transport.