PLANS for an outer relief road for Christchurch could be revived - more than 20 years after they were last discussed seriously.

A report to councillors on Wednesday will recommend allocating £23,000 for a feasibility study into a scheme and how it might be paid for.

The borough is increasingly gridlocked and suffers from one fundamental flaw in its road system - a bypass that takes traffic right into the centre of town.

One possible relief road route could be from the Stony Lane roundabout across the Avon Valley to link up with the A338 Spur Road north of Blackwater.

Another option is a much longer - and therefore potentially more expensive - route from the A35 near Somerford, running east of Burton, north of Sopley and joining the A338 next to the old Hurn railway station.

Two other routes, also looked at back in 1993, run nearer the town centre.

Christchurch officers want Dorset County Council, as the highways authority, to commission its design partner, Parsons Brinkerhoff, to investigate routes, costs and economic benefits.

Cllr Margaret Phipps, environment portfolio holder at Christchurch, said: "We are at a really early stage with this. It's about getting the ball rolling again on a really important issue for the borough.

"Some or all of the routes looked at in the 90s may no longer be relevant and new options may present themselves."

Mrs Phipps said plans at both ends of the borough, hundreds of homes to be built at Roeshot Hill and major development at Bournemouth Airport, made the road issue even more critical to successful economic growth.

Cllr Nick Geary, portfolio holder for transport, said: “We’ve been banging this drum for 15 years or more.

“It remains to this day one of the most important issues to residents and businesses."