It crosses the border into the county of Staffordshire, and after leaving the Peak District travels through the town of Leek.

It crosses the border into Shropshire, and bypasses the town of Market Drayton, and passes the Müller factory.

It goes through the village of Shawbury, before it terminates at its junction with the A49 road, 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Shrewsbury town centre at Battlefield.

[1] In June 2008, a 12-mile (19 km) stretch of the A53 between Leek and Buxton was named as the most dangerous road in the West Midlands.

[2][3] This single carriageway stretch had fourteen fatal and serious injury collisions between 2003 and 2005, and was rated as red—the second highest risk band—in the EuroRAP report publish by the Road Safety Foundation.