A PROPOSAL to funnel traffic away from homes in Areley Kings is one of several smaller schemes battling for a slice of this year's district road budget.

Wyre Forest district councillor Jamie Shaw is pushing the plan to encourage through traffic to use Pearl Lane rather than Areley Common.

It would mean changing the priority at the junction of the two roads at a cost of £10,000 but Mr Shaw, who represents Areley Kings, said residents backed the scheme.

Currently, lorries get stuck negotiating Areley Common, which is often blocked by cars because there is no off-street parking.

"This would not take the problem away but it would alleviate it," said Mr Shaw.

But Wyre Forest Highways Partnership manager Stuart Reynolds warned no decisions were imminent when he spoke at the partnership forum meeting.

He said: "I don't know how much money we've got for this - if any."

Another scheme, proposed by Coun Chris Nicholls, would see a new staggered ramp for elderly and disabled people to travel from a footpath to a popular social club in Austcliffe Drive, Cookley at a cost of £10,000.

And Arley Parish Council wants a £16,500 pedestrian footway built between the Severn Valley Railway station and the riverside car park.