A Suffolk MP is urging planning chiefs to look again at the need for a bypass for villages on the A12 - and ensure that it could be extended in future.

EDF Energy has proposed a two villages bypass - for Farnham and Stratford St Andrew - if the go-ahead is given for Sizewell C.

But Central Suffolk and North Ipswich MP Dr Dan Poulter is adamant that Marlesford and Little Glemham should also be bypassed and wants to ensure that the road changes can be adapted in future to create a four villages bypass to alleviate the "substantial increase" in traffic.

He said the so-called Two Villages Bypass does not currently allow for a future connection with a bypass for Little Glemham and Marlesford and concerns are growing that if the application goes through in its current guise, the opportunity to link up in future will be lost forever.

Dr Poulter said: “A two villages bypass is a start but I remain disappointed that the Four Villages Bypass is not included within the current application before the Examining Authority.

"Looking to the future, we simply cannot afford to miss this vital opportunity to consider any future link up between the proposed Two Villages Bypass and the desired route for the Four Villages Bypass.

"The residents of Marlesford and Little Glemham already experience heavy traffic, particularly during the busy summer months, without the added pressures which will be caused with the construction of Sizewell C.

"It would be short-sighted to consider a route that will make any future bypass for Marlesford and Little Glemham all but impossible, and I have therefore asked the Examining Authority to consider this opportunity during this extension period.”

Dr Poulter has written directly to the lead examiner for Sizewell C at the Planning Inspectorate, Wendy McKay, asking her to consider the future route of a Four Villages Bypass during the extra period permitted by government to prepare the final report on Sizewell C.

EDF has put forward plans for the two-village bypass as being appropriate for the extra traffic that would be generated through the period of peak construction activity at Sizewell.

During the planning process, the company has submitted plans to reduce the number of heavy lorries by 20% through moving cargo onto rail and sea.