Grant moves Goss dualling closer

The route is a notorious bottleneck

The removal of Cornwall's biggest traffic bottleneck has moved a step closer with the award of a large European grant.

About £1.5m has been secured for the plan to divert and dual the A30 around Goss Moor.

On the single lane stretch of road between two dualled sections, traffic jams on the moor can last for hours.

The Highways Agency plans to divert and dual the road.

Extensive reserve

But Goss Moor is an important nature reserve and environmentalists feared for the impact on wildlife.

Now the government's conservation adviser, English Nature, has secured £1.5m of European environmental funding.

It will restore Goss Moor after the work and link it to other surrounding countryside to create one extensive nature reserve.

The funding news should overcome the last major obstacle to the project.

Stephen Warman of English Nature in Cornwall said after the road has been moved, the money will enable them to make the area more attractive to wildlife.

Stephen Warman of English Nature said: "It fixes Goss Moor for wildlife. Things like and otters and very rare butterflies live here and this should help them.

"But it also links the moor and other fragments of wildlife in this area."

The Cornwall Wildlife Trust has welcomed the benefits the new European funding will bring.