AN AMBITIOUS plan to construct a bypass that diverts traffic around Ulverston is to be investigated by councillors.

Cumbria County Council leader Stewart Young said an Ulverston bypass was his preferred solution to alleviating traffic issues in the town and the rest of the Furness Peninsula.

It came as a result of a discussion about money being withdrawn from a proposed scheme to improve problems with traffic at North Lonsdale Terrace.

"The real problem with Ulverston is that the A590 runs right through the middle of it and the solution is a bypass for Ulverston," he said.

"What I have suggested to the LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) – and it was accepted – is we should progress a feasibility study and get the ball rolling on a bypass.

"It is tough with Hoad Hill Monument on one side and the sea on the other. But if we don't look we will never know whether or not it can be done. Let's try and see if it can be done."

Mr Young's comments came in defence to a comment made by cllr James Airey, leader of the Conservatives on the county council.

He asked the council leader if he would apologise to residents and councillors in the town after it emerged money to carry out works at North Lonsdale Terrace had been reallocated to other schemes.

The money, it was heard, was part of funds received from government as part of a growth deal.

"The issues with North Lonsdale Terrace, as cllr Airey well knows, have been about acquiring land that was needed for the scheme," said Mr Young, the CCC's representative on Cumbria LEP.

"It's a negotiation and the owner does not have to sell. The position the LEP found itself in was there was a time limit within which this money had to be used. Because of the delay with acquiring the land, a conclusion was reached this scheme could not be delivered with this money in the time available.

"We took the decision in a timely fashion and reallocated the money to schemes that could be delivered.

"That is what the LEP did."

Cllr Mark Wilson, a former mayor of Ulverston, said he would like to both schemes come to fruition – North Lonsdale Terrace improvements and a bypass.

"If we use some of our experience and intelligence then we can get a solution for that junction and in the future we can look at a bypass," he told the meeting.