ANY Welsh Government recommendations on ways to resolve traffic problems in Chepstow – including a bypass - will not be completed until the end of the year.

It had been hoped that the government’s transport departments studies on the town would have been completed by the end of the summer and given to minister Edwina Hart for her consideration - but that has been delayed.

Monmouthshire council’s transport strategy group chairman, Cllr David Dovey, said he felt the Welsh Government had failed to prioritise the town’s traffic problems because of what he said was its “metro-Valley centric” priorities. He remains in favour of a bypass to solve congestion in the town.

He added: “I sometimes wonder if they know where Monmouthshire is. That is the way they seem to work.”

The Liberal Democrats’ candidate for the Monmouth constituency at next year’s general election, Veronica German, said action needed to be taken.

She said: “Someone said it is almost what you come to accept, that Chepstow is gridlocked. It is not part of what people in Chepstow should put up with.”

She added the party’s policy to make the Severn Bridge tolls free if they were in government after the general election would help alleviate problems around the town.

On the steps the Welsh Government are taking, its spokesman told us: “We are currently considering five different options to improve road safety and air quality in the Chepstow area. Monitoring of carbon dioxide levels is ongoing as part of the process to determine which option provides the most benefits. Officials will recommend a way forward for consideration by the end of the year.”

The department’s officers are also considering a number of other measures, including restricting turning at the Bulwark junction; reviewing traffic signals at the Tesco supermarket; banning lorries from driving over the Wye Bridge; or incorporating a toll system and changing the High Beech Roundabout.