A GWENT Senedd member has called on the Welsh Government to end it "inaction" around South Wales' transport network after a series of major events in Cardiff resulted in long queues on the M4.

Natasha Asghar said the recent 15-mile traffic jams on the motorway, as concert-goers flocked to Cardiff to see Ed Sheeran in concert, show the nation's "creaking" infrastructure is "lagging behind the rest of the UK".

The Conservative MS also criticised the government's road-building freeze that means nearly all highways projects have been put on hold or scrapped.

She accused ministers of "pandering to extreme eco-warriors" and again criticised the scrapping of the proposed M4 relief road around Newport - a decision made by Mark Drakeford three years ago this month.

The Welsh Government decided to abandon the project in favour of setting up a transport commission, which went on to recommend an overhaul of the city's public transport network, promoting rail as the best way to improve travel for communities and commuters alike.

Other measures the commission proposed included average speed cameras on the M4 which did not go live when they were supposed to, and some changes to major junctions in central Newport, including at Old Green Roundabout. 

Those alternative to the relief road "have made very little difference to this day", Ms Asghar said, adding: “Labour ministers in Cardiff Bay need to wake up, smell the coffee and address the damage their inaction is doing to lives and livelihoods.”

She was speaking ahead of a debate in the Senedd on Wednesday, in which the Conservatives will call on the Welsh Parliament to back their claims that the Welsh transport network is not "fit for purpose".

The government will attempt to overrule them, proposing its own amendment to the motion that describes the nation's transport strategy as "fit for the climate emergency" and putting pressure on Boris Johnson's UK Government to "provide adequate funding to Wales for investment in the public transport network".

A proposed Plaid Cymru amendment will add to the government's version, calling on the Senedd to renew calls for "rail infrastructure [to] be devolved to ensure Wales gets its fair share from projects such as HS2".

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "We are creating a transport network which meets its needs for the future, and deals with the challenges we face with the climate emergency.

"Our transport strategy sets out what we consider to be a bold new vision for transport in Wales over the next two decades.

"Improving our public transport and active travel network routes is the right and responsible thing to do for the environment – making low carbon transport options more attractive, affordable, and easier to use.

"We have repeatedly called on the UK Government to deliver Wales' share of railway infrastructure spending.

"If Wales had its share of the HS2 project, we would have £5 billion into the block grant, enabling us to improve investment into our railway system."