ACTION has been called for to tackle a bottleneck on a main route through Devon.

Pressing for the dualling of the A30 and A303, Tory MP for Tiverton and Honiton Neil Parish said the plans were ready, and could go-ahead if cash was available.

There was a 'bad bottleneck' at Honiton, he said. The road had been ready to be built back in 1997, but the new Labour Government blocked it, Mr Parish claimed.

Speaking during the last parliamentary debate before the summer recess, Mr Parish told fellow MPs: "In Cornwall, we have trunked the whole A303-or A30 as it is down there.

"That is excellent, of course, but by the time many people get to Cornwall they will have passed through Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon.

"We have to make sure we trunk the road through Somerset into Devon, and around Honiton, in particular, where there is a bad bottleneck.

"When people get to Honiton, they can link into the dual carriageway that takes them on to Exeter and beyond."

He added: "It would be great if we could get this done. In 1997, the road was all ready to be built, but then lo-and-behold we got a Labour Government which immediately stopped it. As the plans are all ready, we could go ahead and build this straight away if we had the money."

Mr Parish also pressed the case for maternity services to be brought back to Honiton and Tiverton, which had been cut before the election.

He said: "Prior to the election, services were cut in Honiton and they have been stopped in Tiverton.

"I want to ensure those maternity services are reintroduced, because it is absolutely right that we not only have midwives to help with home births, but that mothers can choose to give birth in hospital as well.

"I, therefore, make that great plea."