THE government has given the go ahead to the controversial Stonehenge tunnel scheme in today's Budget. 

The full Budget documents posted on the government website state: "The government is boosting regional connectivity and transforming connections through the largest ever investment in England’s strategic roads.

"Through RIS2 the government will spend over £27 billion between 2020 and 2025.

"It will take forward schemes such as building a new, high-quality dual carriageway and a two-mile tunnel in the South West to speed up journeys on the A303, and to remove traffic from the iconic setting of Stonehenge."

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak made the pledge to 'get it done' during the Budget annoucements.

He said: “There’s one more road I’d like to mention. It’s one of our most important regional arteries.

"It is one of those totemic projects symbolising delay and obstruction. Governments have been trying to fix this since the 1980s. Every year millions of cars crawl along it in traffic ruining the backdrop to one of our most important historic landmarks.

"So to the many honourable and right honourable members who’ve campaigned for this moment, I say this: the A303, this government is going to get it done.”

A senior political source told the Journal that: "It was genuinely in the balance up until a week ago."

English Heritage, who are responsible for Stonehenge, has welcomed the annoucement. In a statement it said: "As guardians of Stonehenge, English Heritage welcomes the news in today’s Budget that funding has been granted to improve the A303 as its runs past the ancient monument. We look forward to hearing whether planning consent for a tunnel will be granted.

"The Stonehenge World Heritage Site is famous throughout the world and is one of the most important prehistoric landscapes in Europe. Today this landscape is split in two by a major road - the A303 - which acts as a barrier to people enjoying, exploring and understanding the World Heritage Site. Removing the noisy and pollution-filled road and placing it within a well-designed tunnel will transform Stonehenge, reunite its severed landscape, and allow people to better enjoy the ancient stones and to discover the fascinating prehistoric landscape they stand in."

Kate Mavor, English Heritage’s Chief Executive, said: “We welcome this announcement and thank the Government for its support. This is an important step towards finally doing justice to Stonehenge – one of the wonders of the world – and the prehistoric landscape within which it stands.

“Placing the A303 within a tunnel would transform Stonehenge, reunite the landscape, and leave a lasting legacy for future generations.”

To read the Budget in full, click here.