A JUDICIAL review against plans to build a tunnel at Stonehenge has been dismissed by the High Court.

It has been announced that an appeal against the Government's £2.5bn road scheme through Stonehenge World Heritage Site was unsuccessful.

Mr Justice Holgate handed down his judgement today, February 19, following a three-day hearing in December.

The appeal came after the Department for Transport approved the tunnel - from Amesbury to Berwick Down - on July 14, 2023.

LIVE UPDATES: Stonehenge tunnel to go ahead as High Court appeal rejected

Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site raised £80k to bring about the legal action against National Highways' plans.

UNESCO, five planning inspectors and more than 236k people were all opposed to the plans.

Salisbury Journal:

David Bullock, National Highways’ Project Director for the A303 Stonehenge scheme, said: “We welcome the High Court's decision and wait for conclusion of the legal proceedings. It is a positive step forward and would mean that at long last we can progress solving the issues of the A303 near Stonehenge.

“It represents decades of working with our stakeholders, heritage bodies and local communities to create the best possible solution.”

Chair of the Stonehenge Alliance John Adams, and one of the three directors of SSWHS, said: “In the face of Government indifference to the harm this road will cause the World Heritage Site, we had no choice but to bring this legal action.

"While this judgement is a huge blow and exposes the site to National Highway’s state sponsored vandalism, we will continue the fight.

"In the dying days of this Conservative Government, which has inflicted so much damage on the country, we cannot let it destroy our heritage as well.”

Tom Holland, historian and president of the Stonehenge Alliance, added: “This is a devastating loss, not just for everyone who has campaigned against the Government’s pig-headed plans for the Stonehenge landscape, but for Britain, for the world, and for subsequent generations.”

Campaign group Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site said it intends to appeal the decision at the Court of Appeal but must raise £15k in order to apply for permission.

If a hearing is granted, a further £40,000 could be required.