SOUTH West Wiltshire MP Dr Andrew Murrison has asked Department of Transport Minister Baroness Charlotte Vere to visit the town.

Dr Murrison has written to Baroness Vere to see for herself why a bypass is urgently needed.

The Westbury MP said: “Rather than spending time and money on yet another strategic road study on linking the south coast with the M4 it would be better to concentrate on dealing - at long last - with the only bit of the A350 that rumbles through the centre of a major settlement.

“A350 improvements without a western route Westbury bypass would simply make the traffic through the town even worse as it struggles to cope with more impositions thanks to Bath’s Clean Air Zone and the threat of Hills Waste lorries going to and from the incinerator it’s planning.”

Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Wiltshire Council cabinet members for highways said: "We hope to bid for funds to improve the A350 at Westbury and secure a bypass for the town.

"However, this scheme will be considered as part of a further round of government funding, which is unlikely to begin until 2025."

Instead, Wiltshire Council has prioritised a new bypass for the A350 at Melksham and improvements to the A338 in Salisbury.

The bypass delay has angered locals fed up with the volume of traffic through the town causing long delays and contributing to air pollution.

Wiltshire councillor Russell Hawker said last year: “Confirmation of the Melksham eastern bypass funding means that a substantive bid for funding for the Westbury bypass can begin in 2025. It also means that the redesign project to prepare for that bid will start in 2022.

"A preliminary design stage will involve re-analysing every possible route to find the most suitable and effective bypass that can be both funded and given planning permission.”