Campaigners objecting to plans for a new interchange on the A47 to the east of Norwich have called for a public inquiry into it to be put on hold.

Norfolk County Council wants to create the Postwick Hub - a new interchange which will serve the proposed Broadland Gate business park - which has already secured planning permission.

The new road scheme will see the closure of slip roads leading on and off the A47 onto Yarmouth Road, but the scheme is also the potential starting off point for the proposed northern bypass.

A pre-inquiry meeting was held at the King's Centre in Norwich today, ahead of the start of a public inquiry in September.

The meeting saw objectors, including Denise Carlo, from the Norwich and Norfolk Transport Action Group and Richard Williams, from campaign group Stop Norwich Urbanisation (SNUB) question how the inquiry could consider the Postwick Hub in isolation from the northern distributor road.

Michael Bedford, a barrister representing both the Highways Agency, which are promoting the side road orders, and Norfolk County Council, said: 'Our case, and I hope we have set this out fairly clearly, is that the Postwick interchange scheme is not dependent on the NDR.

'It is capable of proceeding independently and our evidence is that it is justifiable independently.'

Ms Carlo said the schemes were inextricably linked and that objectors who wanted to put forward alternatives to it, would have very little time to do so, given the inquiry's timetable and lack of information so far provided about traffic figures.

She said her group would ask the Secretary of State if the inquiry could be put back to give objectors more time.