VILLAGERS plagued by the roar of traffic on the Latton bypass were celebrating today after a government pledge to resurface the road.

Concrete on a 14.2km stretch of the A419 and A417 from Latton to Daglingworth will be ripped up and replaced with quieter asphalt by 2007, the Department of Transport said.

All concrete motorways and A-roads were due to be replaced by 2011 in any case, but work to resurface 26 including the Latton bypass has now been brought forward.

The announcement was hailed as a victory by Michael Wills, Labour MP for North Swindon, who has long campaigned for action to improve the lives of residents.

He said: "Noise from the nearby bypass is so bad that in the summer some Latton residents don't even feel able to open their windows.

"Residents feel they were misled by the previous government as to the amount of noise the new bypass would cause.

"This is very good news for everyone at Latton who has suffered the effects of this for so long and I am pleased that this blight will be removed."

Mr Wills said a Government study last year found that Latton residents had been misled by the previous administration about the level of noise.

The Department of Transport estimates that hundreds of people living near the Cirencester and Latton bypasses will benefit from the quieter road surface.

Latton Parish Council chairman Michael Day said: "If the bypass is resurfaced it will be of great benefit."

Resident Martin Young, who lives 100 yards from the road, said: "The noise is horrendous. It should never have been concreted in the first place.

"Sometimes you have to turn the volume up on the TV and you can't sit out in the back garden and enjoy a conversation."

Residents have complained about the noise problems since the road was opened in January 1998.

Four months later, campaigners staged a mass crossing of the road, holding up the traffic.

Concrete roads are noisier because tyres generate a loud hum when they pass over tiny grooves in the surface. The grooves are designed to prevent skids by removing water.