BROUGHTON residents are angered about lack of clarity from Welsh Government over stalled plans for a new slip road to the A55.

The plans were first drafted two years ago and would involve the implementing of a slip road to match the one leaving Broughton shopping park and heading east-bound on the A55.

For years, residents in Broughton have been forced to endure daily traffic jams because roads through the village are grid-locked with shoppers and Airbus employees.

The congestion through the village will only worsen as a result of the new Parc Jasmin housing development project.

Motorists heading to and from Chester can join and exit the A55 from Broughton Shopping Park. But anyone travelling back towards Wales must go through the centre of Broughton to reach the expressway.

The situation has and continues to cause angst for Broughton's residents, who are sick of the heavy levels of congestion as a result.

A feasibility study for the construction of the slip road was drafted in June 2016 and included 11 different options of how the system could work.

But two years down the line and the plans have fallen by the wayside, and the land put aside for the interchange has been built on by housing developers who have built 36 new homes.

Despite the fact that the plans seem to have ended, Ken Skates, Welsh Government cabinet secretary for economy and transport, has not yet provided a definitive answer as to whether the plans will go ahead or not.

This has angered a number of Broughton residents who have sent a petition with 500 signatures to Ken Skates demanding answers.

Chrissy Gee, a Broughton community councillor who is leading the campaign, said: ''I'm not just doing this to do my part as a councillor, I'm doing it as resident who is fed up with the amount of traffic running through Broughton and Ken Skates' lack of clarity on the plans for the slip road.

''We want Mr Skates to come down here to Broughton in person and give us a definitive answer on whether the plans are going to go ahead or not.''

Klaus Armstrong-Braun, a fellow community councillor for Broughton, added: ''It's massive ineptitude on the part of Ken Skates and Welsh Government. They stalled on the plans and now the land has been taken by houses.

''I would like to know what Mr Skates has been and is continuing to do on this matter as the traffic problems through Broughton are worsening rapidly.''

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are working with Cheshire West and Chester, Flintshire and Wrexham authorities to undertake a pre-feasibility study to investigate options to alleviate road congestion, improve air quality and sustainable transport in the region, which will also address traffic issues in the Broughton area. This study will consider the findings from the previous work undertaken.”