A COUNTY councillor is concerned that the government will not not be considering starting work on the solution to the A417 Missing Link until 2020.

In December 2014, the government announced that it will be investing £250 million into the scheme which provides a solution to the Missing Link and is expected to be delivered in its Roads Period 2, which runs between 2020 and 2025.

Highways England is expected to apply for permission to start work on the scheme in 2019 meaning that it will not begin until at least 2020 - despite it being previously suggested by some politicians that work could start by 2017.

Paul Hodgkinson, who has been campaigning for the scheme to become a reality, is demanding that the government starts  work earlier than 2020.

He said: “The impact on the local and regional economy is big – so my message is let’s get on with this as quickly as possible and let’s get a firm commitment from the government that they will push this up the agenda.

“The reality is that Highways England have to do all this preparatory work and even if the government accepts then it will still take time to become a road scheme.

“By the time we get to 2020 there could be another government and the last thing that we want.

Cllr Hodgkinson said he feels that politicians unfairly suggested that the scheme could get underway in 2017 prior to the 2015 local election, “I feel like we have been led down the garden path, prior to the election, the reality that this is years away.

“I find this all very concerning. I’m sure Cotswolds residents don’t want to sit in traffic for another 9 years, nor do residents there want to put up with the high levels of air pollution. ”

Highways England are currently working stakeholders in the scheme, such as Gloucestershire County Council and the Cotswold Conservation Board to discuss the broad principles of the scheme and to highlight areas of concern so that these can be considered within the proposed solution.

It is also in the early stages of design for the scheme and it will be be engaging and consulting with local communities as part of this.