PLANS for a northern relief road for Wellington have been boosted after Swallowfield chairman Ian Mackinnon added his weight to the proposals.

Mr Mackinnon, who heads up the Station Road, Wellington-based lipsticks-to-furniture polish company which employs 500 workers in the town and at Bideford, pledged his support in a letter to Wellington town councillor Andrew Govier.

The letter was placed before the council last night, Monday.

In it, Mr Mackinnon said: "As a business we seek to minimise the impact of our operations on the local community, and construction of a relief road will improve access from the M5 to our production and warehousing facilities and help to reduce the impact of our operations."

He added: "I am in support of the proposals."

The proposed road, which is dependant on development at Longforth Road in the town, would link the Tonedale area of Wellington directly to the A38 near Poole, alleviating traffic problems in the town centre.

See tomorrow's Wellington Weekly News for more on this story, and all your local coverage.