A MAJOR new £10 million link road in Worcestershire is set to be built by 2020, the Worcester News can exclusively reveal.

Work on Pershore Link Road is expected to start in the summer of next year and be complete within two years, in a major boost for drivers.

The timetable has been revealed by Worcestershire County Council after the Government coughed up £5 million towards the costs.

Bosses at County Hall will need to find the rest of the money, but insist they are close to finalising "the remainder of the required funding".

A planning application is also being drawn up for the development, which will see a road cut through the Keytec business park, linking the A44 to the town centre.

The timetable is a major boost for campaigners in the area, some of whom have been calling for the link road for 30 years to take the pressure off Pinvin crossroads.

Council chiefs say the long-awaited link will act as a spur for more commercial development in the area and the creation of up to 700 homes over the next 15 years.

Councillor Ken Pollock, the county council's cabinet member for economy, skills and infrastructure, said: "We're currently in the process of finalising the remainder of the required funding for the scheme, and need to secure planning permission to proceed. "Our aim is to start construction in summer 2018 and finish it in 2020."

On Monday night a special Pershore Link Road 'working group' came together to discuss the way forward.

The group includes Lib Dem councillors Liz and Charles Tucker, who have been involved in the lobbying over it for three decades.

It comes as a county MP insists the Pershore Link Road must be just the start of more radical transport improvements for south Worcestershire.

Mid-Worcestershire MP Nigel Huddleston said the current refresh of the Local Transport Plan, a county council blueprint due to last until 2030, must be used to press the case for more Government funding.

He said: "This (Pershore link money) is a great success, but cannot be seen as the end of our efforts to tackle traffic congestion in Worcestershire.

"The county’s new transport plan will represent another important step, and I will continue my own efforts to make Worcestershire’s case to the Department for Transport in Westminster."

The £5 million Government handout for Pershore link is part of a £17.5 million award to Worcestershire from Chancellor Philip Hammond's Growth Deal kitty.

In his Budget the Chancellor also announced the launch of a new £690 million competitive fund councils can bid for to ease congestion.