North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson warned today safety campaigners would have to be “realistic” on how quickly money can be found for improvements to the A5 road.

The Conservative MP led the battle for improvements to the road while he was in Opposition after a series of fatal and serious injury accidents on the busy route.

At the General Election earlier this year Mr Paterson was given a Cabinet post and appointed Northern Ireland Secretary.

He said since the Coalition came to power it has become clear that public spending on everything, including road programmes, would have been be prioritised carefully.

Mr Paterson said: “The campaign still goes on because the road is still very dangerous and simply not up to the job.But it is clear public sector spending will have to be scrutinised thoroughly and that includes road building programmes.

“We have to be realistic about that and everything will have to prioritised.

“The public finances are in a mess, that is very clear. We as a country are borrowing £300,000 a minute because of the financial mess.

Honest

“We just don’t have the money any more but that is not to say we should give up.

“We will carry on building roads, improving rail services and updating our transport network but we have to be honest about the funding problems.

“I will be continually pushing for improvements to the A5 and keep pushing until we get them. Obviously because of the public finance situation it may take longer than we all would wish.”

Mr Paterson said it was vital for public safety that improvements were made to the road, particularly in the Oswestry area and into North Wales.

His calls have been echoed by politicians and campaigners on both sides of the border particularly after a series of recent collisions.

Last month a lorry tipped over at the Halton roundabout on the A5, bringing chaos to motorists.

That incident came three months after a fatal crash on the nearby Chirk bypass.

Two drivers died in that crash which involved a cattle wagon, a car and a tanker.

Chirk’s county borough councillor Ian Roberts has already called for improvements to the road, claiming it was “not fit for purpose”.

And Chirk resident Sally Poppit has set up an online Facebook campaign calling for improvements to the road to be made immediately.

By Iain St John