AN exhibition of proposals for a long-awaited £35m bypass around a market town and two surrounding villages is being extended after a high level of public interest from members.

Plans showing the proposed Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar bypass will now be on show in the Bedale Room, at Bedale Hall, from next Monday to Thursday.

The exhibition will be unmanned, but organisers say extensive information will be on display.

There will also be information leaflets, a questionnaire, comments book, a questionnaire ‘post box’ and a pre-paid envelope for those who wish to mail their responses, plus contact details for phone, email, and letters.

The whole of the Department for Transport-funded bypass will lie to the north of Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar.

Made up of two new sections of road, split by the A1, it will be approximately 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) on the west side and 1.9 kilometres (1.2 miles) to the east.

Construction, dependent on completion of the new A1(M) Leeming junction and Government funding, is planned to start in October 2012 and finish within two years.

County councillor John Fort, North Yorkshire’s executive member for highways, said: "The council is committed to responding to people’s needs and this bypass is yet another example of how we plan to do that.

"We are extending the exhibition so that everyone gets a chance to find out in detail what the proposals entail.

"The bypass is vital to reducing congestion and improving road safety and environmental problems in the villages of Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar.

"Just as importantly it will give better access to and from the A1 motorway as well as between the communities to the east and west of the motorway.

"Lots of work has been going on to develop the proposals and we now need to know what the public think about them."