RESIDENTS in Wyre Piddle are celebrating after finally winning a decades-long battle to get a bypass for their village.

As part of the Government's Local Transport Settlement announced yesterday (Thursday) morning, Worcestershire County Council was given the funds needed to build the long-awaited bypass and relieve the congestion and heavy traffic which has blighted the lives of local people.

County councillor for the village, Liz Tucker, has been battling for 20 years to get the money. She said yesterday: "This is the best millennium celebration of all. It is absolutely fabulous news.

"The village has been working at this since 1968 and there have been so many changes of people involved along the way. I personally have been working on it for 20 years. If we didn't get it this time that would probably have been it for another 10 years."

As the admag went to press, it was not known exactly how much Worcestershire had been given in the latest round of transport funding, but the Wyre Piddle bypass is expected to cost in the region of £3million to build.

Local people have suffered numerous disappointments over the years as the government has refused bid after bid for the road from the county council.

A delegation in October including MP Peter Luff and representatives from Wyre Piddle Parish Council and Pershore Town Council met roads minister Keith Hill and came back feeling more hopeful. The trip has now paid off.

Gary Robinson, chairman of Wyre Piddle Parish Council, said: "We are absolutely delighted. We will see a new village rise up out of this. We are planning a massive old-fashioned street party the day after the bypass is completed. I want to thank everybody who helped in this great achievement."

Peter Luff, MP for Mid-Worcestershire, who led a number of delegations to Whitehall to press for the new road, added: "I am absolutely delighted for the villagers who have had their patience rewarded."

News of the bypass will also be welcomed by Evesham Town council and Pershore Town Council who both supported the application, believing the bypass will have a wider benefit to the whole community.

They supported the view that the bypass will take traffic from the A44 and A46 Norton bypass on to the A4538 utilising the Wyre Piddle bypass and relieving traffic in Pershore town centre and Hampton. Evesham Town Council also believes it will help in its bid to get a Twyford link between the Squires and the Evesham bypass, cutting out Greenhill.