WHEELOCK Bypass campaigners are celebrating news that work on the £11.5million scheme will begin in May - months earlier than expected.

The road will link Sandbach to the Haslington bypass, and includes a 350 ft viaduct over the River Wheelock and Trent and Mersey canal.

It is hoped that work will be completed by Autumn next year.

Bypass Action Group secretary Roger Foden and his fellow campaigners are "over the moon" after the sudden announcement.

"I think I speak for everyone in Wheelock when I say we are delighted with the news - and I think I also speak for the 20,000 people who use the road every day in their cars and lorries," Mr Foden said.

"I know that the people who run businesses in the village are very pleased with the news, because it will mean that local people will be able to use the village once more.

"And let's not forget that it's tremendous news for Sandbach as well. It's going to be an awful lot safer for the schools on the road.

"I believe it's going to be a massive change to our way of life, and about time too," he added.

Villagers have been waiting nearly 20 years for the bypass. It was first proposed in 1979.

The Haslington bypass opened in 1990, and since then Wheelock has seen traffic levels increase dramatically.

The early start to its relief road has come about because of a special agreement between the contractors, Galliford UK Limited, and the County Council.

Environment Services chairman David Lloyd-Griffiths said that it was an "innovative approach" by the two partners.

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