A HUMBLE Worcestershire road that is home to the businesses employing nearly half the county’s workforce must be protected at all costs and never allowed to shut, according to council officers.

The A442 Droitwich to Kidderminster road has taken on a greater significance following the discovery that many of the county’s commuters use it to get to work.

The county council discovered about 80 businesses that lie along or near to the seemingly run-of-the-mill road, employ just under 47 per cent of Worcestershire’s workforce.

Glyn West, head of economic development and sustainability at Worcestershire County Council, said: “The A442 becomes a critical road for us because so many businesses sit there.

“This road cannot be allowed to fall apart or shut at any point because it’s so key to the way that business is conducted.”

The importance of the road was identified after many of Worcestershire’s biggest employers were plotted on a map of the county.

The companies have been earmarked as ‘strategic’ because of the contribution they make to the ongoing success of the county’s economy.

Mr West said: “We’ve discovered that just under 80 companies employ just under 47 per cent of the workforce. We need to engage with those 80 companies seriously and we need to do everything we can to retain those companies in the county.”

Among the companies along the road are Amada UK, Bondworth, British Aerospace Defence, Bristol Street Group, Koito Europe, Exel Logistics, Inductotherm Europe, Reddiplex Group Plc and Faithful.

Also on the list are Joy Mining Machinery, Halcrow Group, Elisabeth the Chef, Malvern Instruments and Webbs of Wychbold. The Chamber of Commerce has been contracted to meet with the strategic businesses and other organisations in their supply chains to identify their key needs.

The council’s findings were shared with councillors at a meeting of the environment and economy panel, which met to discuss the council’s performance.