AN MP has launched a petition calling for action on a long-awaited bypass around a busy village.

Bishop Auckland MP, Helen Goodman, is urging Durham County Council to take up the scheme to reduce the amount of traffic on the A68 through Toft Hill, near Bishop Auckland.

Ms Goodman says she has also managed to get the issue back into the council's County Plan as a possible highway improvement scheme.

“I was really pleased that our campaign to get the bypass back into the County Plan has been successful," she said.

"The battle must go on however as the inclusion of the bypass proposal into the County Plan is only the first stage of the process.

"This is why the petition is important as it shows how strongly Toft Hill residents feel about the sheer volume of traffic thundering through their community every day.

"It is not just about road safety and congestion, which of course is paramount, but also the quality of life of those living near the A68 through traffic noise and air pollution.”

Ms Goodman says she has been working closely with Toft Hill resident Alex Wright who experienced the traffic problems firsthand when a van ploughed into her house causing substantial damage in December 2016.

Ms Goodman and her team collected more than 60 signatures from worried parents of Toft Hill Primary School in the first ten minutes of her campaign.

In a recent letter to the MP, the county council said the proposal would be considered “where it can be demonstrated there is a benefit from the scheme in terms of addressing congestion or highway safety and there is a realistic means of the scheme being funded".

The call for a bypass follows several serious traffic accidents on the road, including a van which smashed into a house and a collision which saw the 42-year-old driver of a pony and trap seriously injured.

As part of the ongoing campaign for safety improvements Ms Goodman contacted Ian Thompson, director at Durham County Council and John Reid, head of technical service the council, asking for speed cameras and 20mph enforcement around Toft Hill Primary school.

She also wrote to Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport to consider the request for a bypass and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport Jessie Norman MP.

To sign the petition visit you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/toft-hill-bypass-petition?just_launched=true