A77 campaigners believe they have made "great strides" after meeting Scotland's Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop to discuss improvements to the road.

And now they hope to set up a task force to boost safety on the road and put an end to lengthy delays and closures.

Following the meeting, A77 Campaign Team member John Campbell said: "We felt it was a huge learning curve for Fiona Hyslop. She wanted to hear about the 10 years of landslides on the A77, to find out why there had been 3,000 days out of the 3,652 days of this 10 year period when we first suffered the landslide at Marchburn.

"More landslides at Carlock Wall followed with the road being reduced to single lane carriageway under the control of traffic lights dating back to 2014.

“She seemed amazed to hear the 3,000 days are ever increasing with further landslides at Carlock Wall in Glenapp with more work taking place on the top side of Carlock Wall to take another 90 days to fix wire to the wall.

"The Transport Minister wanted to know from her Transport Scotland Officials why these landslides have taken so long to fix.”

(Image: A77 Campaign Team) Mr Campbell highlighted that the trunk road is "one of the most important" in Scotland because it is the only one that links the central belt along the M8 corridor and Northern Ireland through the Ports at Cairnryan.

The Campaign Team considered this made it easier for them to put over their case for improvements to the A77 as that crucial link to and from Northern Ireland through the Ports at Cairnryan.

Mr Campbell added: "We understand it can be anything up to and above £10m of goods that travel between Scotland and Northern Ireland on a daily basis.

"A lot of these goods are ‘just in time’ goods that require to be delivered same day to the retail outlets and is why we need the A77 to be kept open and greatly improved. 

“But it is also about the safety of the people who live in the between towns and villages on the 50 mile stretch between Whitletts roundabout at Ayr down to Stranraer with the huge number of 44 ton lorries trudging through these villages subjecting them to CO2 emissions. 

“These towns and villages need bypassed just as we have at Maybole to protect the people and the environment from all this emission, but also to see local investment as Maybole has experienced since the construction of the bypass."

Campaigner Willie Scobie said the Transport Minister was interested in setting up some form of structure so interested parties could meet with her on a regular basis. 

He added: “These would come from interested parties that use the A77 on a daily basis like the road hauliers, the ferry companies at Cairnryan, the Chamber of Trade and Commerce, as well as the local councils, and were particularly pleased to hear the Transport Minister saying she considered the A77 Campaign Team to be at the heart of any structure she sets up.

“We felt the Minister had grasped our intention in requesting a structure and we took on board the advice she proffered in respect of tackling the short, medium and long term issues that affect the various interest groups and the people of the South West of Scotland."

He added: “We shall continue to have a positive dialogue with Transport Scotland and Amey on the short term issue and asked the Transport Minister to keep us updated."