TIME is running out for Totton.

That was the grim warning from a councillor during a debate on the latest attempt to secure government funding for plans to give Totton a £22m facelift.

George Dart, pictured below, a lifelong Totton resident and former chairman of the town council's planning and transport advisory committee, told fellow councillors: "Time is not on Totton's side.

"The funding delay has left the town stranded. It's a great embarrassment to us all and a cause of tremendous dismay to residents."

Hampshire County Council has ditched plans to apply for a Whitehall grant after the rules relating to bids were changed.

As reported in the Daily Echo, the council is now proposing to complete the scheme in four stages using the Local Transport Plan, a roads strategy funded by the government.

The plan to complete the long-awaited work in phases will be discussed at a meeting of the Solent Transport Panel on October 12.

Cllr Dart added: "I hope our representatives at the panel meeting will draw attention to the rapid deterioration in the condition of our highways and footways. We need funding at the earliest opportunity to improve the more neglected parts of the town centre."

After the meeting Cllr Dart said: "Totton is about the only town in the New Forest that has seen no improvements of any kind.

"We must maintain the focus on this issue with the aim of achieving a solution to the more obvious problems in the town."

The panel meeting will be attended by Totton's two county councillors, Frank Bright and Edith Randall, who have both vowed to keep up the pressure and ensure the town's voice is heard.

Plans to transform the main shopping area were published two years ago and were widely supported.

Proposals include a town square and a link road from Salisbury Road to the mini roundabout at the junction of Ringwood Road and Maynard Road.

Commercial Road, currently a dual carriageway, will be halved in width and turned into a tree-lined boulevard.