A COUNCILLOR says he is “extremely disappointed and angry” at proposals for the A303.

Ian West, who lives less than 100 metres from the major trunk road, wrote to government-owned Highways England with his concerns about the scheme.

He said he still believed a previous plan for a 2.1km tunnel at Stonehenge put forward in 2004 and supported by English Heritage, the National Trust, archaeologists, and land owners was the best option.

The route, which was passed by an inspector after a public inquiry, included a northern bypass for Winterbourne Stoke.

“I still believe this is the right line for this road and not the line that has been presented as the northern option for the current consultation which I find unacceptable,” he wrote.

Cllr West said the southern bypass option with a 2.9km tunnel “beggars belief” would be a “total disaster”, cutting close ties between the villages of Winterbourne Stoke and Berwick St James.

He said it would have “devastating effects” on the site of special scientific interest and unnecessarily ruin “a most beautiful landscape”.

“I do sincerely hope that the views of local people living here will be listened to,” he added.

In a local survey, 84 per cent of people supported dualling the A303 along its current route, while 16 per cent supported a tunnel, Cllr West said.

He wrote: “Both options for the Winterbourne Stoke bypass appear to have been designed to get rid of the spoil from the extra-length 2.9km tunnel now being proposed.

“Some have been agitating for a longer tunnel which would completely destroy our environment and countryside which only a few years ago was suggested should be in the World Heritage Site.”