The MPs for North Shropshire and Clwyd South will continue to push for improvements to busy trunk roads linking regions across the England/Wales border.

Owen Paterson MP and Simon Baynes MP recently attended a cross-party meeting of Conservative and Labour representatives to discuss potential improvements to the A5 and A483 roads between North Wales and north Shropshire, as well as the potential Pant and Llanymynech bypass.

Mr Paterson insisted the talks, which involved seven members including Transport Minister for North Wales Ken Skates AM and Russell George AM for Montgomeryshire, were a success.

Mr Baynes echoed his thoughts – he said: “It was a very constructive meeting and we’re very keen to see the Pant/Llanymynech bypass and upgrades to the A5 and A483 roads.

“Between us, on a cross-party basis, we’re going to push hard from both the English and Welsh side of the border to achieve those objectives.

“Although the Pant and Llanymynech areas are outside my immediate patch, I think it’s important for the people living in that area to have this bypass.”

The road improvements in question could see upgrades to stretches of the A5 between Chirk and Oswestry.

Mr Baynes believes it is vital for the two parties to work together to offer the best chance for the changes to happen.

He added: “I think cross-party collaboration on projects like this is vital. That’s why we were very pleased to have the meeting that we did.

“We’re working closely together to improve the road network on both sides of the border.

“I think, going forward, we just need to keep pushing for these improvements on both sides.”

The Clwyd South MP continued to say he feels the likelihood of the potential changes happening will become clearer in the coming months.

“Yes it’s extremely important that we focus on ensuring the improvements to these road can happen,” Mr Baynes said.

“We feel on a cross-party basis, between the Conservatives and Labour, that it would be good to see improvements for that stretch of road. I hope that the picture will become clearer over the next few months with regards to how realistic these improvements are.”