Minister says 'a lot of things have changed' as talks continue over £39m Shrewsbury relief road bill

Work was paused on the controversial project in June after the incoming Liberal Democrat administration, long-term critics of the scheme while in opposition at Shropshire Council, declared the road "simply unaffordable".

Prior to that, a programme of enablement works had been started by the previous council in an effort to get the heavily delayed scheme off the ground - despite an emerging funding gap of up to £176 million, which the previous administration believed would be funded by central government.

Costs for the 4-mile road are estimated to have risen from an initial estimate of around £87m to over £210m, which led to the Lib Dem council calling time on the road virtually instantly after being elected this year.

The council says it intends to cancel the scheme completely, although a final decision would need to be approved by full council.

This week, government roads minister Lilian Greenwood MP said it would be discussing the future of the scheme with Shropshire Council - but stopped short of confirming that £39m already spent on the project would be repaid.

"The last government had many, many schemes in what was the snappily titled MRN LLM (Major Roads Network Large Local Majors) programme, those were supposed to be in construction and delivered by 2025 and of course they weren't and a lot of things have changed in that time," she said.

"There are all schemes that have been brought forward by local authorities and the truth is we're not going to develop all of them and many local authorities have decided the schemes are not what's needed or are no longer affordable.

"We've got a review process for a number of schemes, the north west relief road in Shrewsbury is among those and we'll be having conversations with local authorities including Shropshire Council about the future of that scheme.

"That work is underway now, we're intent on doing that work so we can give certainty to people - that's a conversation that needs to happen between the department and local authorities to work out which schemes are still got the possibility of being delivered and which ones aren't now suitable for the purpose they were intended."

The new administration wrote to the government in May to discuss a potential "off-ramp", with the council facing the prospect of bankruptcy if it could not recoup the money which has been spent on the relief road to date, according to some councillors.

The project has remained in limbo ever since, with a potential way forward hinging on discussions with government about who should foot the bill for money already spent on the road.

In a statement on May 26, Shropshire Council said borrowing £176m to complete the project was "not a serious option" due to the council's financial position, adding that work had been paused immediately with machinery being taken off site.