'Relief road money would be better spent on NHS'

Mark Bebb said "the easier we make it to get people to come to Shrewsbury and the surrounding areas, in theory the more people [will] come"

The millions of pounds expected to be saved after the plan for a major bypass was suspended would be better spent on the NHS, one local boss has said.

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.

Mark Bebb, managing director of caravan retailer Salop Leisure, said he thought "£215m for me personally [would] be better spent on the NHS at the moment, or a school".

Better Shrewsbury Transport Campaign said it wanted to see "[the road] properly killed off before we can properly celebrate".

Mr Bebb believed town centre congestion was difficult at times, but "if we can't afford" the road, there should be investment in the town centre, he added.

The company also runs Shrewsbury's Love2Stay caravan park and Mr Bebb said people "come in touring caravans, motorhomes, from all over the country and all over Europe".

"We'd like the congestion to be dealt with.... the movement of people's really important," he continued.

"A good [road] network is really important to us and also... [there's] our staff coming through the town centre.

"[But] if we can't afford it, we really should repair what we have and invest into the town centre to try and mitigate things."

The relief road was proposed as a way to reduce congestion through Shrewsbury

The managing director said the company probably had about 150 families travelling to the park every weekend.

"It would improve the journey from the north of our county and Manchester regions by probably about 20, 30 minutes," Mr Bebb added.

Shropshire lorry driver Kyle Longmuir said without investment in infrastructure, "things will only get worse"

Shropshire lorry driver Kyle Longmuir said the traffic situation the town would "remain poor".

"Whilst I appreciate the awkward position they are in financially, I feel they are hampering economic growth in the medium to long term," he said.

"As someone who votes Liberal Democrat, I would urge them to think again and consider the impact on Shropshire as a whole.

"Short-term thinking rarely solves problems. Shrewsbury is expanding and without investment in its infrastructure, things will only get worse."

Mike Streetly, from Better Shrewsbury Transport Campaign, said it did not want to see the project rising up again

Conservative group leader Dan Thomas urged the Lib Dems to "go back to the government with the business case".

But Mike Streetly, of Better Shrewsbury Transport Campaign, said: "We want to see this project nailed down and not to rise up again like the kind of zombie project it has been in the past.

"So we want to see this properly killed off before we can properly celebrate."