Council demands A303 improvements

Wiltshire County Council wants the nearby A303 upgraded

Wiltshire County Council has said it wants improvements made to the A303 before a new visitors' centre is built at Stonehenge.

The council's cabinet has been formally consulted on the English Heritage plans, and given support in principle.

It has requested that a number of conditions be imposed if permission is granted by Salisbury District Council.

Revamped plans for a multi-million pound visitor centre are currently the subject of a public consultation.

Councillor Fleur de Rhe Philipe, in charge of highways for Wiltshire County Council said: "The current setting of our World Heritage Site is awful, and something needs to be done about it.

"As for the current state of the A303 in that area - it's really important that gets upgraded both from a safety point-of-view and for the poor unfortunate village of Winterbourne Stoke which is cut in half."

English Heritage's proposed visitor centre and land train would cost more than £67m.

The first consultation was held last autumn, but revised plans by English Heritage have now been submitted to Salisbury District Council.

These can be viewed at council offices, local libraries, and on the district council's website.