A business case for the long-awaited Shrewsbury North West Relief Road has been presented to government ministers.

The latest phase for the £125 million project was received by the Department for Transport after it was given the go-ahead by Shropshire Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday.

The new road will link the Churncote Roundabout, where the A5 from Oswestry meets the A458 from Welshpool, with the Battlefield Link Road and aims to ease congestion for thousands of motorists and has been welcomed by many villages, including Baschurch, which are currently used as rat runs.

Councillor Steve Davenport, portfolio holder for Highways and Transport, said if the latest bid to the government is successful it could mean the new road is completed by 2022.

He continued: “This latest bid will be announced in the spring budget and if we get it it will mean £105m central government funding then Shropshire Council will have to put in £20m.

“It is of huge importance. It will help Shrewsbury, but it will stop rat running and that means bringing the villages back to how they should be.”

But Cllr Davenport said the process will continue to be lengthy with the outline business case taking a year and £1 million funded by the LEP to complete.

He continued: “If it is agreed then there will be another consultation, so I would say it is the start of the beginning. But if we get the funding it would be built within five years.”

A public consultation on the project was held in October and received more than 600 responses, 67.5 per cent of which agreed with the preferred route.