A long-running campaign to bring a bypass to Pant and Llanymynech is "back on the cards".

Councillor Steve Davenport revealed that he is now responsible for ensuring the positive talks between politicians on both sides of the English and Welsh border continue.

And he said that although it may be some way off before the plans come to fruition, it is the most productive it has been in almost a decade.

Cllr Davenport, who took part in Westminster talks with North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson and Transport Minister Jesse Norman MP last week, said: "Work is continuing with the Pant and Llanymynech bypass.

"I have been asked by the Welsh Government and the Department of Transport (DfT) to keep the meetings going with our MPs, so it really is back on the cards.

"Whatever happens will be sometime off, but it's being talked about again at a high level and that's really something."

The campaign by residents and politicians to bring a bypass to the two villages has been ongoing for almost 40 years and has been championed by Mr Paterson since he was first elected in 1997.

Cllr Davenport said his "facilitating" role also involved Highways England.

He continued: "I have got the Welsh Assembly ringing me, so we will just keep talking about it and try to bring something together.

"Certainly everybody who needs to know about it does and although things are happening slowly they are happening rather than there being nothing."