Lancashire County Council has finally fired the starting gun on finding a contractor to build the Broughton Bypass.

The Broughton Bypass scheme will be one of the first schemes to be delivered as part of the £383m Preston and surrounding area City Deal after first being mooted 20 years ago.

Council highways experts believe the bypass would reduce 80-90% of the traffic currently passing through the village centre.

Many housing developments are currently stalled because the transport infrastructure in the area cannot take any increase in vehicles – according to reports submitted to the city council’s planning committee.

The 2km long bypass will create a new route from the Broughton roundabout at Junction 1 of the M55 to the A6 north of the village.

The bypass route in the northern section would go from the A6 Garstang Road to the B5269 Whittingham Lane and will be a two-lane single carriageway.

A southern section would go from B5269 Whittingham Lane to the M55 Junction 1 at the Broughton roundabout and be a four-lane carriageway.

Work is due to begin on the bypass in the autumn and aims to be finished in 2017.