M49 junction: Missing link road developer 'behaved appallingly'

The junction is open but does not link to the business park as planned

The developer of a "missing" link road to a new motorway junction has behaved in an "appalling" way, a regional metro mayor has said.

The fact the £50m M49 junction cannot be used is "not good enough", Mayor of the West of England Tim Bowles said

The junction was finished in late 2019, but it has yet to be connected to a nearby distribution centre.

South Gloucestershire Council has said it was "working to influence" the developers to build the link road.

Two companies are named as the landowners - Severnside Distribution Land and Delta Properties. Neither have responded to requests for comment from the BBC.

The new route at Avonmouth was due to link the motorway to a business park containing a huge Amazon distribution centre.

Conservative Mr Bowles said: "Let's be clear, the motorway is the responsibility of Highways England and the developer needs to be delivering on their commitment to them and South Gloucestershire Council.

"I am not impressed by the developer. I think it's appalling behaviour and it's their responsibility to deliver."

End of the road - the route from the motorway junction stops just short of the business park

Other companies based on the business park include Tesco, Lidl, Next, DHL and The Range and Royal Mail also has a distribution centre there.

But currently any drivers that use the junction to reach the businesses would reach a fenced-off dead end.

A spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council previously said "responsibility for building the link road... lies solely with the landowner" and the council was working to "influence and help facilitate construction" of the road in a "timely manner".

Highways England, which built the junction, said: "South Gloucestershire Council is currently working towards [building the road] with developers."