SHADOW transport secretary Tim Collins MP has pledged to hold the Government's "feet to the fire" in the drive to secure a bypass for one of the region's most dangerous roads.

The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP has joined forces with the incoming chairman of Furness Enterprise, Stephen Murray, in a bid to keep up pressure on government ministers to see an A590 bypass built by 2004/5.

Mr Collins said he also planned to contact Barrow and Furness MP John Hutton early in the new parliamentary year to ensure they continued to lobby transport minister John Spellar.

"I have no doubt the vast majority of people are in favour of the High and Low Newton bypass and we are building up a strong coalition, which includes cross party support," said Mr Collins.

Furness Enterprise incoming chairman Stephen Murray - a former Superintendent with Cumbria Constabulary - said he had long-standing concerns about the safety of the road and would keep "plugging away" to ensure the bypass became a reality.

Residents have long campaigned for a bypass along the busy A590, which links Furness with South Lakeland, to help cut road deaths and provide communications links to support the local economy.

The A590 bypass was recently included as a priority in government draft North West planning guidance but campaigners want to step up pressure to ensure the scheme is completed in the first half of the five-year planning period.

Mr Collins said, with planning permission and a public inquiry already in the bag, the scheme was simply awaiting government funding.

"The only thing holding this up has been the money.

Once that has been secured it would take between 18 months and two years to build.

We really want to keep up the pressure - to hold their feet to the fire to make sure this happens."

Mr Collins said the majority of residents of South Lakeland villages such as Cartmel and Grange-over-Sands knew someone who had been hurt or killed in accidents on the road and added, as the A590 was Furness's only lifeline to the rest of the world, an upgrade would inevitably help attract inward investment.