STOWMARKET'S leaders fear landmark bridges being built in the town as part of a £15million relief road scheme could prove to be a cheap and nasty eyesore.

STOWMARKET'S leaders fear landmark bridges being built in the town as part of a £15million relief road scheme could prove to be a cheap and nasty eyesore.

Councillors meeting to discuss the proposed B1115 Relief Road river bridges said they feared an opportunity was being missed to celebrate the town's unique history.

They are keen to see depictions on the bridge of Stowmarket's heritage.

Gordon Paton, a town councillor and former mayor, said: “There is an opportunity here for pictures, symbols - something to brighten the place up.

“The bridge nearest the railway station is near one of our best buildings in the town, we need to look at this area carefully.”

Marilyn Finbow, town councillor, said: “These bridges are supposed to last for a lot of years, what is the point of doing something a little cheaper that is not good for the town?

“We should not be cheap and a little bit nasty about this, why does everything have to be done on the cheap all the time?”

A spokeswoman for the county council said representatives from the authority had attended the town council meeting and would be passing town councillors comments back to colleagues.

The new road in Stowmarket, which is expected to be used by more than 6,000 vehicles a day, would connect the existing B1115 Stowupland Road to the A1308 Gipping Way near Milton Road South.

It is hoped it will be completed by spring 2009.