A £103 MILLION contract has been awarded to develop plans for a new bypass for the villages of Mottram, Hollingworth and Tintwistle in Tameside and Derbyshire.

The Highways Agency has awarded the contract to Mowlem plc, which will now develop plans for the new bypass on the congested A628 Woodhead route across the Pennines. The existing road through the three villages carries up to 42,000 vehicles a day, including nearly 4,500 lorries. It is hoped that up to three-quarters of this traffic will be removed once the new road is built.