'Unhappy birthday' party marks road repairs wait

People have held an "unhappy" birthday party for a section of A-road which partially collapsed five years ago.

The A490 between Chirbury and Church Stoke in Shropshire was damaged by heavy rainfall in February 2020. Temporary lights and concrete safety barriers were installed so the road could remain open in both directions, but repairs have not been completed.

Tuesday's event at Chirbury Cafe, Shop and Post Office was organised by Heather Kidd, a Liberal Democrat for Chirbury and Worthen ward on Shropshire Council and joint leader of the authority's main opposition group.

The Conservative-led council said repair work would take place this summer and apologised for inconvenience caused by the traffic lights.

Kidd asked residents at the venue to sign a letter that she would send to Shropshire Council to "finally get the job done".

Part of the steep bank along the southbound side of the road collapsed after rainwater ran off a nearby field during Storm Dennis in 2020.

Kidd said temporary traffic lights being replaced with permanent ones, and the introduction of a speed limit, had improved the situation.

"But it hasn't improved the fly-tipping on the site, the litter that's thrown out of windows, or the mud that accumulates because the drainage across the road is very poor," she said.

"And occasionally when people jump the lights, we've had lorries meeting cars in the middle."

She added it would cost the council "an awful lot of money" if repairs were not made "sooner rather than later".

A Shropshire Council spokesperson said preliminary design work was undertaken in 2024 to work out a solution.

"Upon review there were concerns regarding whether a lengthy repair was required, or even a requirement to move the road away from the valley edge," they said.

"The consequence of moving the road would be a protracted delay as a result of land take and associated legal processes, together with considerable cost increases and further disruption."

They added that further investigations were taking place to test the viability of a localised repair, which would be more cost effective and would take place in the summer.

"The council is continually reviewing possible solutions to issues of this type, to ensure the most cost effective solutions are found and procured to make the best use of limited public finances," they stated.

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