HOPES for a long-awaited Stourport relief road have received a setback after the scheme was left off a 10-year Government investment plan.

The Department of Transport list for the West Midlands, published last week, omitted the proposed bypass route, despite it being recommended for approval by the regional assembly.

The programme, which includes 34 transport initiatives from across the region, details where funding will go between now and 2016. Residents and traders have been calling for a relief road, which would cost around £50 million, for decades to ease congestion in the town and boost the economy.

Stourport district councillor, June Salter, a Conservative representing the Mitton ward, said she feared the wait for the "vital" route could drag on for many years.

Mrs Salter explained: "We were told before last year's general election that if the Government changed, money would have been made available and work could have started. Of course, it didn't change and now we are at the back of the queue again."

Derek Prodger, Worcestershire County Council's cabinet member for the environment, said he would not give up hope of securing the funding, despite the latest setback.

He said: "It would be easy to be downhearted about the fact that, with so many schemes making it on to the list, Stourport's much-needed relief road has not but there is a long way to go between now and 2016."