MONMOUTH'S "snowballing" campaign to reduce the speed limit on the A40 has been boosted after the Welsh Assembly Transport Minister Andrew Davies confirmed a reduction was "likely".

The 'Drop it to 40!' campaign, headed by County Cllr Eileen Goodrich and local resident Conny Millard and backed by Mike German AM and David Davies MP AM, calls for traffic calming measures on the dual-carriageway.

But though hundreds of residents have signed a supporters' petition, the Assembly had stood firm on the current 70mph limit - until last week.

Speaking in the Assembly, Andrew Davies said: "It is likely that a reduced speed limit will form part of a final package of measures."

Mr German has described the u-turn as a "major breakthrough", while Mrs Millard has been collecting the signatures from petitions during the campaign.

She said: "In the last two weeks we have had several hundred returned. It is really encouraging to see that as well as hundreds of returns from Monmouth itself, we are being supported from many in Ross-on-Wye, Gloucestershire, and people from as far away as Newport and Cardiff." She added: "The campaign is beginning to snowball and we'll be going to the National Assembly soon to present our case."

Campaigners have also called for the Transport Minister to visit the A40 at Monmouth - the scene of two serious road accidents in the last six months - but the Minister said that "in view of our ongoing work, I do not believe it is necessary for me visit this location. It is important to note that a reduced speed limit is not being disregarded, and remains an option, but in isolation it would not address the problems presented by recent accidents nor many previous ones."

Monmouth MP David Davies said: "On the face of it this is fantastic news. "But when I was involved in the campaign to get a speed restriction on the A4042 at Llanover it took three years before anything was done. Hopefully this time the matter will be resolved much more quickly."

But an Assembly spokesman refused to be drawn on a timescale for action. He said: "When you look at changing something on the road network you have to look at the knock-on effects. The possible measures are currently being put forward for discussion and a number of statutory processes will then have to take place."