A relief road to take through-traffic away from a congested town “will be brought forward,” a council leader has said.

Deputy leader of Central Beds Council, Richard Stay, has said that plans to build a relief road around Arlesey “will be brought forward to remove traffic from the main route through the town.”

The road was originally proposed when Arlesey was adopted as an area for housing growth in the Local Development Framework in November.

The route has now been defined as coming off the A507 across fields to the five-way junction at the old hospital end of the village, to be constructed in advance of the 1000 new homes proposed for the town.

Cllr Stay said: “Any development must have transport infrastructure in place to manage any increase in people coming to or driving through the area.”

Chairman of Arlesey Town Council, Hugh Harper, welcomed the news.

“I really believe the road will be a tremendous help,” he said. “We only have one road and that is the High Street. It will take vehicles away. We have car transporters coming through at the moment.”

The plan is currently being assessed by the Government.