Plans to build tunnel under Stonehenge face controversy

Stonehenge is famous around the globe as one of the wonders of the world but for drivers it's famous for entirely different reasons. Delays on the A303 are a constant problem.

Now plans to change all that have been altered by the government after concerns that the route would ruin the view of the sun setting at the summer solstice.

The preferred route - which has now been finalised by the Department of Transport - has been amended following a public consultation but as Mel Bloor reports, opinions remain split.

Mel Bloor reports.

The Government has revealed its preferred option for a tunnel at Stonehenge.

While it closely mirrors the current route along the A303 - it would be further away from the landmark.

It's part of a £1.6b road improvement scheme but some campaigners are worried the landscape will be ruined.

Roads Minister Jesse Norman says as well as economic benefits it is important to consider the environmental positives of the project.

Time Team presenter Tony Robinson has attacked the Government's decision to give the go-ahead for a 1.8-mile road tunnel near Stonehenge.

He described the project as "the most brutal intrusion into the Stone Age landscape ever" and accused the Department for Transport of paying "no attention at all" to the importance of the Wiltshire monument.

But government heritage agency Historic England, and the National Trust and English Heritage, who manage the stone circle and its surrounding landscape, welcomed the announcement.