BRADFORD on Avon MP Michelle Donelan has scotched hopes of a bypass for the town now the town’s social distancing scheme and one-way system have been removed.

Miss Donelan said on Tuesday she would prefer residents to "make a decision" on whether they want the one-way system reintroduced following public consultation and a referendum.

"This needs to be a decision for the people of Bradford on Avon. If they don't want it, there should not be one.

"There has to be a tangible benefit in terms of reducing traffic and some modelling needs to be done to mitigate the impact on residents in the Mount Pleasant, New Road and Springfield areas."

Miss Donelan, the MP for Chippenham, said a bypass for the town was "not a realistic possibility" as part of the potential route had been built on many decades ago.

"Economically, it does not pass the test to secure the money and it would devastate the countryside around Bradford on Avon."

Traffic chaos ensued on Friday after the one-way system was removed on Thursday evening but by Saturday seemed to have settled down as drivers once again got used to two-way traffic in the town’s narrow streets.

Wiltshire Council has been asked by the town council to model some options ahead of a consultation pledged to take place in the autumn.

But residents are likely to be split on the best option to relieve the town of vehicle congestion and improve air quality.

Ivan Wiggam, who has campaigned on local social media for the one-way system to stay, said: “People who oppose the one-way system should stop talking about a bypass as an alternative. There is never going to be a bypass

“In fact, our local MP has told us, at a public meeting in St Margaret’s Hall, that it is unaffordable.

“A bypass would be bitterly opposed by anyone on its route, mean we would lose even more of the green areas around the town, probably encourage more passing traffic without benefiting the town, and would certainly encourage more housing developments, putting even more pressure on our town’s health and education services.”

Mr Wiggam, of Masons Lane, says he would like to have the one-way system reinstated, introduce measures to restrict traffic flows, and have the council carry out major landscaping alterations to pavements, signage and streetscapes.

Many residents want to see the one-way system restored, while residents in the Mount Pleasant, New Road and Springfield area are delighted it has been removed.

Town mayor, Cllr Sarah Gibson, is working with Wiltshire Council, to have the traffic options modelled, based on the data collected over the past year or so, so they can be presented to residents as part of a public consultation in the autumn.

The one-way system was introduced as part of a 12-18 month Temporary Traffic Regulation Order for the social distancing scheme but was lifted after social distancing restrictions were removed.