THE eagerly awaited Semington bypass has opened to traffic after a 40-year wait.

Many villagers went along to cheer Wiltshire County Council chairman Jerry Willmott as he officially opened the £12m, 4km stretch of road on Friday.

Cabinet member for highways, transport and economic development, Fleur de Rhe Philipe, said: "This road will improve the quality of life for people living in Semington by diverting traffic away from their homes.

"It will also make journey times through the county more reliable, helping people and businesses across west Wiltshire."

Over 18,000 vehicles were passing through Semington each day and the bypass will take the majority of that traffic away from the village.

Angela Weston, chairman of Semington Parish Council said: "It is going to make a huge difference.

"Semington has been waiting for this for 40 years and not having the traffic going through is going to make it seem like a village again."

The road construction has taken 14 months and has included the first aqueduct to be built in the south west for nearly 200 years, to carry the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Construction of the bypass meant excavating about 300,000 tonnes of clay. About 35,000 tonnes of asphalt was laid, 3,500 cubic metres of concrete used and 800 new roadstuds put in place.

Miss de Rhe Philipe said: "The whole project has been an engineering marvel, particularly the aqueduct and although there have been a few hiccups along the way the final product is magnificent."

The bypass includes a new three span bridge over Semington brook and three new roundabouts.

Fossils discovered while the road was being built have been donated to the primary school and children have also been on a number of school visits to the site.

Work has protected wildlife along the route, including measures to keep a colony of protected great crested newts safe, badger tunnels and deer- proof fencing.

The old road through Semington will now only be open for local traffic with restrictions limiting its use as a through route to emergency vehicles, buses, cyclists, horse riders and walkers.

Transport Minister Tony McNulty is due to visit the new road in May, marking the final completion of the bypass works.

'We can hear the birds sing again' chairman

VILLAGERS in Semington are still having trouble sleeping, but now it's owls rather than traffic keeping them awake.

The opening of the new Semington bypass on Friday means that for the first time in years people living in the village can hear birds, rather than the noise of cars and lorries thundering by.

Parish council chairman Angela Weston said: "It's so quiet at the moment. On Saturday morning it was like something out of a science fiction novel. It was so eerily quiet you couldn't quite believe it, but we are getting used to it now."

An estimated 20,000 vehicles a day were passing through Semington and people living there have been waiting 40 years for a bypass to divert most of the traffic.

Delighted villagers took to the streets on Sunday in a torchlight parade that was the first in a series of events planned to mark the opening of the bypass.

Mrs Weston said: "It was wonderful. We had a lot of people turn up and we had a lovely time.

"We all walked to the bridge, appreciated the peace and quiet and then walked back to the village hall and had a lovely social evening."

The By-bye 350 campaign running in the village is raising funds for an even bigger celebration in the summer. A three-day event, called Semington in Bloom, is being planned for all villagers, with people from around the area invited to join in on the third day.

The parish council is also preparing to enter Semington in the annual Best Kept Village competition.

Mrs Weston said: "We have decided to enter this year, which we haven't done for a few years, because now we are a village again."