North West Relief Road project officially scrapped

Plans for a relief road in Shropshire, which have already cost more than £32m, have officially been cancelled.

Shropshire Council voted to scrap Shrewsbury's proposed North West Relief Road on Thursday.

The project was paused last summer after the government said it would not provide the full £215m of funding needed.

The council's Liberal Democrat administration has agreed to an inquiry to look into the road's history under the previous Conservative regime.

Work on the road stopped in June 2025, after the government said there would be no further funding - which led the council to deem the road unaffordable.

The Department for Transport is yet to decide whether the council will have to pay back the money already spent on the scheme, which it was awarded in 2019.

Shropshire Council would have to use some of its recently awarded government loan to cover the cost.

The authority said the council's current financial position and forecast costs, rising from the original £74.2m estimate to £162.4m, meant it could not afford to carry on with delivering the bypass.

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