High level talks in bid to improve A5 between Shrewsbury and Oswestry

North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson will be meeting with transport minister Patrick McLoughlin to push the case for an upgrade to the A5 between Shrewsbury and Oswestry.

It comes after a three-car-crash near Whittington left a 14-year-old girl trapped and closed the road for several hours while emergency services - including the air ambulance - worked at the scene.

Mr Paterson said following the crash he will be meeting with Mr McLoughlin to push for the road to be changed to a dual carriageway between Shrewsbury and Ruabon, near Wrexham.

"Tragically, deaths and injuries affect my constituents disproportionately," he said.

"The stretch of the A5 running north from Shrewsbury, through North Shropshire, linking up to the A483 into North Wales is the last stretch of Trans European Network-status road running between Felixstowe and Holyhead which has not been dualled.

"It is totally inadequate for the volume of traffic travelling from Ireland and the industrial areas of North East Wales and is a cause of frequent congestion."

Mr Paterson said that when he was first elected in 1997 his first adjournment debate was on the issue.

"I have continued campaigning for improvements ever since, all the while traffic volumes have increased leading to more frequent and severe accidents," he said.

"However, I have been working closely with the current transport secretary to get this matter resolved once and for all.

"In a letter to me at the end of the last parliament, John Hayes MP, the then roads minister, confirmed that in discussions with Edwina Hart, his counterpart in the Welsh Assembly, there would be a Cross Border Road Forum which would look at this issue.

"John Hayes was able to confirm that a high level study of the A5 corridor would take place.

"This could be the final breakthrough that will bring this road brought up to modern standards, alleviating a major frustration for my constituents who have to use it on a regular basis.

"Next month I am meeting the secretary of state for transport again to discuss these proposals.

"After 18 years of fighting for an updated road network through Shropshire, I am determined that we finally see the improvements that are so badly needed.

"I am hopeful that this meeting will be an important step in achieving this."

In the past six weeks there have been eight crashes on the stretch of the A5, with the section close to the Halton roundabout at Chirk a particular black spot.

The previous Government conducted a study which recommended dualling the complete length of the A5/A483 between Shrewsbury and Ruabon and a cost benefit study was conducted into dualling the section from the Wolfshead roundabout to Queen's Head.

However, the cost benefit analysis reported that modernising the A5 was not to be given priority and the Government shelved the plans.