NEARLY £8m of funding to help improve traffic congestion in Bromsgrove has been welcomed - but more is needed.

That's the blunt message from county councillors Rita Dent, Karen May, Kit Taylor, and Shirley Webb after much needed plans to ease congestion along the A38 were recently given the go ahead.

The Conservative councillors said they regard the funding, for the A38 Bromsgrove Major Scheme, as a good start to addressing a number of issues in the district, but are calling for further funding to be made available for future improvements.

Cllr Rita Dent said: “We’ve all put up with hours of the day stuck in traffic on the A38. There isn’t a quick fix to the congestion problems but this is a step forward.

She added: "I think we’re all sick to the back teeth in Bromsgrove of the congestion, we welcome this funding as a positive move and are fighting for more.”

At a Worcestershire County Council meeting earlier this month councillors unanimously voted in favour of Package One of the scheme - and approved £6.3m to be spent on it.

£1.3m had already been approved.

This first package is critical in supporting the objectives of the Bromsgrove Development Plan, the Redditch Local Plan, Worcestershire’s Local Transport Plan 4

and both the Worcestershire and Greater Birmingham and Solihull Strategic Economic Plans.

The full scheme comprises junction enhancements on the A38 corridor between its junctions with M5 (Junction 4) to the north and the B4091 in the south.

It targets locations where delay and congestion are currently experienced and where conditions are predicted to deteriorate further without intervention.

It is also hoped it will help support the delivery of housing and grow employment, maximise the efficiency of the road network, and reduce journey times.

The Advertiser reported last year that the county council was set to receive more than £6m of funding from the Department of Transport which would be spent to make improvements in Bromsgrove.