OUTGOING first minister Carwyn Jones may not make a decision on the M4 relief road before he leaves office in two weeks time, he has suggested.

Mr Jones has previously said he expected to be able to make a decision on the long-awaited project before he steps down as first minister on Tuesday, December 11.

But now the Bridgend AM has said it may not be possible for him to sign off the scheme or block it before then.

The report of an independent inquiry into the scheme, which runs to 580 pages, has been received by the Welsh Government and is currently being considered by officials.

Speaking to the BBC Mr Jones said he had not yet seen the report.

"It's not absolutely guaranteed I'll be able to take the decision on making the orders or not," he said.

"That’s still the intention, but these decisions can't be rushed, they have to be taken properly.

"It’s the sort of decision which people will be unhappy with whatever the decision is and may look to challenge in court, so the proper process has to be followed."

But he said he would be reluctant to pass the decision to his replacement as first minister, saying:

"The worst thing I could do is throw this at my successor and say 'there you go'," he said. "It's one of the most difficult and probably controversial decisions anyone could take, and just throwing it at my successor doesn’t seem fair."

Mark Drakeford, Vaughan Gething and Eluned Morgan are standing to replace Mr Jones as leader of Welsh Labour and first minister. The winner will be announced on Thursday, December 6, and will officially take up the role the following Wednesday, December 12.