A local councillor has welcomed news that a roundabout looks set to be built at a dangerous junction in Inverkip.

Cllr Innes Nelson says he is absolutely delighted the work will be done under what is known as the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal.

He added: “For many years now I have been pushing for a solution to the accident problems we have witnessed on the eastern junction at Inverkip and I am absolutely delighted that through the City Deal a new roundabout now looks set to go ahead.

“At the many meetings I have had with Transport Scotland they have always said that a roundabout is the best option for the junction, however the problem has always been financing it and the City Deal now offers a solution to this.

“Hopefully a roundabout at Inverkip will work as well as the one that was installed at Langbank a few years ago to overcome similar problems.” The roundabout is included in a £3.8million improvement package for the A78 at Inverkip.

The road improvements will mean redevelopment of the former power station site could progress, with hundreds of houses in a new village being proposed.

The start date forecast is October 2016 with completion a year later.

The “News” highlighted concerns over the junction earlier this year, when Councillor Nelson said the layout at the junction, where there had been repeated accidents, made it inherently dangerous.

The councillor said the way the junction is configured means that traffic coming from the Greenock direction enters the village along a slip lane.

But this traffic obscures the view of drivers trying to get out onto the main road.

And a lady driver who was injured in a crash at the blackspot backed calls for a new roundabout. She suffered a knee injury and was off work for six weeks.