Highways Agency records show that between December 2005 and March 2007 agency officials met with representatives of Somerset county council on at least nine occasions at regular intervals to discuss progress with the general design and layout of the A303/A358 South Petherton to Taunton M5 scheme.The loop road at Blackbrook was first identified as an option for the M5 northbound off-slip by the Highways Agency in February 2006 and discussed with Somerset county officials early in the summer of 2006.Work on the scheme is currently on hold while my Department and the South West region discuss the implications of the recent Stonehenge announcement for the wider strategy for improving the A303/A358 corridor to the M5 at Taunton. It is too early to say what the outcome of these discussions will be.