A FORMER Mayor of Worcester has issued an impassioned plea for the Northern Relief Link Road to happen - saying congestion will 'never' be resolved without it.

Councillor Roger Knight, a Conservative, insists the jams will never be properly eased until a completed ring road circles the city.

He has also criticised Worcester City Council's response to a major document spelling out the vision for Worcestershire's transport, saying its leadership needs to push for the northern link to be included.

The dossier, known as 'Local Transport Plan 4' (LTP4), is currently out for public consultation having been drafted by Worcestershire County Council.

As the Worcester News first revealed in December, the 85-page dossier includes the reopening of small rail stations at Rushwick and Fernhill Heath as well as swathes of cycle-friendly 'active travel corridors'.

But the northern link has already been ruled out before 2030 and does not form part of the document, with its cost said to have spiralled past £140 million.

The city council has formulated its own response to LTP4, but it does not focus on calling for the northern link.

Cllr Knight said the current Southern Link Road revamp, which his Conservative colleagues at County Hall are spearheading, will not work without a proper ring road.

"I can't see the Southern Link Road ever easing the city's circulation problems," he said.

"In order to make it work we need that northern link road, and the problem is I don't see us getting it.

Worcester News:

"We need to look at it a little more strategically and more ambitiously, so we can get people travelling around the city rather than through it."

He raised his concerns to the city council's Labour leadership during a cabinet meeting, where he told them to make the northern link a key focus of its LTP4 response to County Hall.

"Unless we stamp our mark on this and start making demands, it'll never happen," he said.

But Labour Councillor Geoff Williams, cabinet member for economic prosperity, told him there was a lack of "unanimity at county-level" over the northern link and said it would only lead to large-scale housing development in order to get funding.

"At some stage there needs to be a debate on it, but I'm not surprised to see it not included more, in LTP4," he said.

Councillor Lynn Denham, a fellow Labour cabinet member, said they were all hoping for certain things in the LTP4 "that aren't there".

"Reductions in bus services have had a significant impact - people have found themselves effectively trapped at home, people can't carry shopping home," she said.

"LTP4 could be doing more to address these sorts of issues for the city."

Worcester Green Party, which has just two city councillors, has also recently drawn up its own set of transport policies.

But the ideas either include policies long-abandoned by County Hall's Tory leadership, such as Perdiswell park and ride, or ones already firmly included in LTP4 like the reopening of Fernhill Heath station.

We revealed yesterday how Councillor Ken Pollock, cabinet member for the economy at County Hall, said he wanted to see the northern link happen - but that they have "no money".

He also said it would cost "twice as much" as the £70 million bid lodged with the Government over dualling Carrington Bridge.