MONMOUTH MP David Davies has likened congestion in Chepstow to rush-hour traffic in some of the world's largest cities.

The border town is frequently beset by traffic jams during the morning and afternoon commutes, and in mid-February roadworks on the M48 brought the town to three days of near standstill.

"There are times when a drive through Chepstow resembles the rush hour in Lagos or Mexico City," Mr Davies said in the House of Commons on Wednesday, during questions with the secretary of state for Wales, Alun Cairns.

Mr Davies made his remarks during his latest calls for a Chepstow bypass, on which a decision is yet to be made despite decades of political to-and-fro.

The Monmouth MP followed up on his Mexico City remarks by asking Mr Cairns' office to "do everything that they can to encourage the local authorities in Gloucester, the Welsh Government and the Department for Transport to work with Monmouthshire council to deliver that bypass as soon as possible".

Replying to Mr Davies, parliamentary under-secretary of state for Wales Nigel Adams said the UK government was "dedicated to improving transport infrastructure across Wales" and added that he knew "from personal experience... that Chepstow could do with a bypass".

Despite Chepstow being dwarfed in terms of both size and population by Mexico City and Lagos, Mr Davies' remarks highlight a common complaint from people who live in the Monmouthshire town, who insist the volume of traffic passing through Chepstow each day far outstrips the capabilities of the local road network.

But comparisons with Mexico City may be a slight exaggeration – in 2017, a study by satnav firm TomTom found the Mexican capital to be the most congested city in the world, with heavy traffic in the city causing journey times to increase by two-thirds at any time of the day.

The highest-ranking UK city was London, where congestion typically increased journey times by 40 per cent.