FEARS have been allayed that the plug has been pulled on long-awaited road scheme at one of the gateways to Pembrokeshire.

Work on the A40 Llanddewi Velfrey by-pass has not been affected by Welsh Government plans for a freeze on road projects, despite a claim to the contrary by local MP Simon Hart.

Clarification has been given by deputy minister for climate change, Lee Waters, who made the original announcement about schemes being put on hold in a bid to cut the country's vehicle emissions, on which it is targeted to be zero by 2050.

Speaking in plenary in the Senedd, Mr Waters said: "On the specific question of the Llanddewi Velfrey to Redstone Cross scheme, as we've said, all schemes where there are currently diggers in the ground will continue, and that is one of them."

A Welsh Government spokesperson said:“All road programmes and projects that we fund, except those under construction, are potentially in scope under the roads review. The schemes affected will be confirmed by the review panel in due course.”

Confusion over the future of the £35m road scheme, which is due to start later this year, arose following comments by Mr Hart that the by-pass project had been 'snatched away' by the Senedd proposals.

He spoke out after Mr Waters outlined the proposals for the road scheme freeze.

The deputy minister said: “We need a shift away from spending money on projects that encourage more people to drive and spend more money on maintaining our roads and investing in real alternatives that give people a meaningful choice."

He added: “Since 1990, Welsh emissions have fallen by 31 per cent. But to reach our statutory target of net zero emissions by 2050, we need to do much more.

"In the next ten years, we are going to need to more than double all the cuts we have managed over the last 30 years, if we are going keep temperature rises within safe limits. That means changes in all parts of our lives. Transport makes up some 17 per cent of our total emissions and so must play its part."