Transport bosses in Westminster are being urged to step in and force a new A2 bypass to be built after “four decades of failure”.

Demands for a new road around Ospringe and Faversham to become government policy were made in a petition sent to the Department for Transport (DfT).

Campaigners lobbying the DfT, Kent County Council and Swale Borough Council say a new road is needed because of development and high pollution levels.

Ben J Martin, one of the campaigners, said: “For decades residents and schoolchildren have had to contend with congestion and poor air quality with little to no action by local and central government.

“We think four decades of failure is too long.”

The document, which has more than 900 signatures, was handed in last week and has also been sent to London.

Residents want the Ospringe Street bypass to ease congestion from new housing in the south of the town and address air quality issues in Faversham.

The Faversham Society continues to work on a survey into pollution levels at seven sites across the town.

The proposed route would see the bypass extend from the Western Link Road to join up with the A251 Ashford Road.

This would mean lorries heading from the M2 would be redirected from their current route along the A2.

A group from Faversham Liberal Democrats visited Swale House in Sittingbourne to submit the petition.

They are calling for developers building in the town to be told to include plans and fund the construction of a bypass.

The first discussions for a new road came in the early 1980s but they were shelved in the 1990s after public outcry. Campaigners now say the time has come for the road to be reconsidered.

Mr Martin added: “We’re delighted by the level of support for a bypass. Ospringe Street was never designed to cope with modern traffic.

“The road narrows making it difficult for lorries to pass each other, with some having to mount the kerb.Combined with the dangerously-high levels of nitrogen dioxide and the general traffic congestion, it is clear that there is a need for a bypass.”

Town councillors backed proposals for the bypass at a meeting in May.

A KCC spokesman confirmed there has been no progress on developing designs for a new road or discussions with developers.

The DfT has been asked to comment but has so far not responded.

Pollution levels at seven sites across Faversham are being monitored in a bid to improve residents’ health.

A study by the Faversham Society and the University of Kent is looking at the main hotspot in Ospringe Street and six other locations which have not been assessed before.

The results of the survey are expected in November and will reveal air pollution levels across the town.

Scientists from the Centre of Health Services Studies at the University of Kent are analysing the data after testing for nitrogen oxide gases and carbon in the air.

Along with pollution hotspot Ospringe Street, experts are testing at Water Lane, Ashford Road, East Street, Crescent Road, West Street and Preston Street.

The study is looking at new ways to assess pollution with samples taken lower to the ground where children are breathing.

A report written by Professor Chris Wright, who is working with the Faversham Society on the survey, says samples for nitrogen oxide gases are usually taken two metres above the ground.

But he says there can be higher concentration of the gases and particles at a child’s height.

Prof Wright said: “The levels of pollution we are experiencing in Faversham as a whole are not as high as those in Britain’s major cities. But there is a local ‘hotspot’ on the A2 and possibly at other sites in the area.”

He added there has been “widespread evidence” air pollution is particularly damaging for children as exposure peaks during school run hours and break times for schools close to main roads.