The controversial four-week closure of a busy Shropshire road to allow for resurfacing work has been scrapped, it was confirmed today.

Telford & Wrekin Council has now put plans to shut the A41 on ice until a full consultation is carried out with residents and parish councils affected by the closure.

Councillor Stephen Bentley, Telford & Wrekin Council cabinet member for environment, said today: “Following publication of the notices advising of the roadworks it has become absolutely clear that local people were not properly consulted about this.

“As a result we have ordered that the work does not start on Monday and any work is delayed to allow proper and full consultation.”

Motorists had been bracing themselves for traffic chaos after it emerged the key road was to close north of Newport on Monday, meaning diversions of up to 30 miles.

But after angry motorists, residents and traders spoke out at a heated public meeting in Sambrook on Thursday, councillors ditched the plan.

At the meeting, residents living close to the road at Chetwynd, near Newport, said they were baffled about the location of the work, between Chetwynd Firs and the northern Telford & Wrekin boundary.

Many had lobbied highways chiefs for safety measures on a stretch of the road nearer to where Tern Hill couple Freda and Ronald Twemlow, both in their 80s, died last November.

Speaking afterwards, resident Ian Munn said: “The resurfacing was going to be half a mile from where the double fatal crash was.

“I have been trying to find out why they are resurfacing that particular piece of road and not the part we have been campaigning about.”

Villagers have called for measures like double white lines, flashing signs or average speed cameras.

A Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman said the roadworks, which are now to be rescheduled, were essential.

He said: “The work is a full reconstruction of the carriageway rather than a resurfacing of the top layers.

“It is being done after condition surveys identified the condition of the road structure below the surface was poor and in need of major repairs.

“The maintenance work is not being done in response to any recent fatalities.”

Funding for the £313,000 scheme comes from the Department for Transport and must be used by April or paid back.