GETTING BORING...

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly turned up today at the site of the A3 Improvement Scheme at Hindhead in Surrey. She wanted to mark the start of boring work on the main tunnels under the village and the nearby Devil`s Punchbowl. The whole scheme is costing £374million and will take three years to complete but it will bring an end to the one and only bottleneck along the whole of the A3 between London and Portsmouth. (You`ll forgive me, I`m sure, for not speculating as to why on earth anyone would wish to go to Portsmouth - at least voluntarily.) At 1.8km, the tunnel will be the longest land tunnel in the UK.

Now, the Devil`s Punchbowl is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and very pretty it is too. But it`s hardly a World Heritage Site. So how come this multi-million pound scheme can get the go ahead, but a tunnel which would help preserve the integrity of Stonehenge doesn`t even get off the drawing board?

(Hindhead tunnel might look like this)

I`m sure the good folk of Hindhead will be pleased with the final outcome of their scheme, which I would not deny them, but it does raise an unfortunate sense of priority on the part of Ruth Kelly and her ministerial colleagues. Never mind, Ruthie - have another glass of champers and hope UNESCO won`t notice.