PM urged to abandon Stonehenge tunnel plans

Campaigners won a High Court battle in July proving the site would be harmed if a tunnel was built

Campaigners have written an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling on him to abandon plans to build a tunnel near Stonehenge.

Last month Stonehenge Alliance campaigners won a High Court battle to prevent the scheme in Wiltshire.

Stonehenge Alliance chair John Adams OBE said: "The climate is changing - both literally and towards this highly damaging road scheme."

The BBC is waiting for a response from 10 Downing Street.

The letter lists a set of reasons why the plans should be dropped due to the impact a tunnel would have on the landmark's World Heritage status -a finding made by five senior planning inspectors.

It stated: "The examiners of the scheme in 2019 recommended against it, owing to the adverse impacts it would have on the WHS and its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), notably where the western tunnel entrances would emerge in a deep cutting leading to a major interchange at the World Heritage Status boundary."

The economic case for building a wider road was also included where campaigners stated that the costs of building the road had gone up to about £2bn and in the region of £7m a year in maintenance costs.

Campaigners are also calling on the government to consider its decision in relation to the climate emergency.

"We need a new approach that improves people's access to the South West without damaging the WHS or increasing carbon emissions.

"We need to give people real choice and that means investing in a better and fully integrated public transport network and other measures," Mr Adams said.

He also stated that more than 200,000 signatures had been gathered in a petition calling for the tunnel plans to be dropped which he said was an indication that people were "overwhelmingly" against the plans.