SPURNED plans for a western relief bypass in Bromsgrove must be independently reviewed, councillors have said.

Plans for a western bypass were first voiced in the 2004 Bromsgrove District Council Local Plan, but a report by Worcestershire County Council claimed a relief road wasn’t needed.

With proposed developments at Perryfields and Whitford Road set to bring more homes – and traffic – councillors feel county council’s report must now be reviewed again.

The call for a full independent review received cross-party backing at Bromsgrove council's own Overview and Scrutiny Committee last month.

Cllr Luke Mallet, who represents Bromsgrove West at county council, said: “They have stuck their head in the sand by saying it is not needed.

“We desperately need homes for local people but the infrastructure does not support it.

“If you do not look at this and explore it now then you will lose the opportunity.

“The developments are on the other side of the town – the train station and the A38.

“But for anyone to get to the houses they will have to go through the town centre.

“It is clear for the developments proposed at Whitford and Perryfields to be viable, a massive investment in new roads such as a western relief road is needed.”

Chris Bloore, the district cllr for Sidemoor, added: "We last had major road investment in Bromsgrove in the 1980s and that was the construction of the A38.

“We have grown massively since then and we now need new infrastructure to ensure we can provide the affordable homes local people need."

Recommendations are yet to be made to Bromsgrove District Council.

A Worcestershire County Council spokesman said: "A high level report was carried out at the end of 2015 and it concluded that a Western Distributor Road was not necessary to support growth identified within Bromsgrove's emerging local plan and would be very expensive to deliver.

"Additionally, any proposed alignment would have negative environmental implications in terms of flooding, use of the greenbelt and proximity to listed buildings.

"However, we continue to look at long term infrastructure requirements for the north of the county and all options will be considered."