ATTEMPTS to ‘dual track’ the road which links Malvern with Worcester are back on the agenda – with developers revealing they are prepared to pay to make it happen.

Talks have been held between London-based Welbeck Land and Worcestershire County Council about dualling the section from Whittington roundabout to the Ketch Island in Worcester in a multi-million pound deal.

Worcestershire County Council says it wants to see the entire A4440 route eventually complete, and is going to re-visit the chances of dualling the section between the new bridge at the Ketch and Powick roundabout.

Andrew Smith, from Welbeck Land, said: “The focus, at the moment, is on dualling the Southern Link Road from the Ketch up to Whittington roundabout.

“We think people on our site will tend to head up to the motorway, so that’s what it’s all about.”

The negotiations are taking place because Welbeck Land wants to build a £400m, 2,200- home village in Kempsey, near Malvern.

It has bought 153 acres of land straddling the A38 Bath Road, Crookbarrow Way and Norton Road, and has submitted an outline planning application.

Although the developer is not prepared to fund the whole A4440 dualling, County Hall says it intends to now get the entire route done “as soon as possible”.

A new body, the Worcester Transport Board, has been set up between senior council figures and business leaders, is expected to look afresh into the chances of securing an upgrade to the route.

West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has pledged to raise the issue in parliament.

“I am sure local planners will want to ensure transport is carefully planned as the infrastructure is already congested,” she said.

“I will continue to campaign for a Worcester Parkway station at Norton, joining the East West line with the North South line.

“The whole Southern Link road needs improvement too – it is also essential to plan bus and cycle routes to the centre of Worcester and Malvern.”

The next section of the Southern Link Road takes in Carrington Bridge, which would cost tens of millions to strengthen and widen, or replace completely with dual tracks.

County Hall says the immediate aim will be to get Welbeck Land to pay as much as possible towards the partial upgrade, and hope the Government adds more to the pot.

Sources suggest transport chiefs want the partial dualling done by around 2019 – by which time the new village is expected to be well underway.