A £33 MILLION plan to dual Worcester's A4440 Southern Link Road is on the verge of getting the green light - after developers agreed to cough up nearly half the costs.

Your Worcester News can reveal how a deal has been struck which will see a huge London-based developer stump up a staggering £16.3 million towards the mammoth project.

The outcome follows months of private talks between council chiefs and Welbeck Land, which wants to build 2,200 homes on fields off Crookbarrow Way in St Peter's in a £400 million 'super village'.

A new report for the Worcestershire County Council's Conservative cabinet, which is expected to be backed tomorrow, reveals:

- The £33 million cost will be met by £12 million from the Government's Growth Fund kitty, £16.3 million from Welbeck Land, £700,000 from existing council highways budgets and a £3 million loan

- Another £1 million will come from contributions off other house builders who get planning permission for projects elsewhere in the city, known as Section 106 agreements

- The fund will be enough to dual the entire A4440 stretch from Whittington island to the Ketch roundabout, including a bigger Norton island, and pay for a pedestrian crossing over the carriageway

- Negotiations are currently ongoing over purchasing a small portion of land by the railway viaduct needed to do the work, and if a deal cannot be struck soon a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) will be used to take ownership of it

- Work will start by April 2015, just after the current £8 million Ketch island enlargement is complete, and be split into phases with a finish date of early 2018

Your Worcester News first revealed back in December how the council was intent on dualling the A4440 Southern Link Road, but not Carrington Bridge at this stage.

At the time the council said if nothing was done, congestion on the stretch will rocket 40 per cent on top of the 30,000 cars currently using it every day, resulting in unprecedented gridlock.

Because Welbeck Land cannot feasibly deliver all the homes by 2018, the new report reveals how the council will "set aside" funds to fill the financial gap, and collect £16.3 million at a later date to effectively reimburse taxpayers.

The cabinet is meeting tomorrow where it will be asked to agree the financial package and timescale for the massive project.

Andrew Smith, from Welbeck Land, said: "The South Worcester Urban Extension needs to be granted because the money from Welbeck is nearly half the costs of the A4440 Southern Link Road plan.

"The money will come from Welbeck under a Section 106 agreement, which we are prepared to sign up to."

The report for the cabinet says the housing growth set for south Worcester "cannot be completed without it" being dualled.

It also says the council is intent on making the A4440 more attractive as a "bypass for Worcester city centre".