§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many communities he considers need bypasses.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke:There is no simple answer, for the reasons set out by Sir Arthur Armitage in paragraph 202 of his report on "Lorries People and the Environment". On trunk roads in England, for which my right hon. Friend is responsible, our programme includes bypasses for those places where we already accept the need for them. I have no doubt that we will continue to identify more worthwhile schemes to add to the programme in future years. Schemes started this year will take through-traffic out of more than 20 individual communities, while progress with the M25 will relieve large areas of outer London and towns beyond it.