DEMANDS to keep the existing A3 open when the Hindhead tunnel is built have brought a warning that by doing so it could jeopardise the entire £107 million tunnel scheme.

More than 180 local people crowded in Grayshott Village Hall last Wednesday to quiz Highways Agency officials.

Amid fears that "the village of Grayshott could be destroyed" unless there is a fundamental rethink, highways project leader Paul Arnold said the it was "all about compromise".

The Grayshott meeting was organised by the local branch of the Council for the Protection of Rural England CPRE as a gesture of goodwill. It followed criticisms that a previous meeting at Haslemere Museum was not held in a large enough venue and people had to be turned away.

Many in the audience were still not happy at the way the meeting was conducted, with no public address system and people at the back of the hall complaining that they were unable to hear.

With feelings running high about the tunnel plans and the audience becoming more frustrated by claims that the public's views were not being heard, at one stage the meeting was in danger of becoming out of control.

During the question and answer session that followed Mr Arnold's presentation, residents became increasingly vocal in their support for keeping the existing A3 open.

Grayshott resident and former chairman of Grayshott Parish Council Pat White, who has lived in the area all her life declared: "An awful lot of people are against the closure of the existing A3."

She asked why Grayshott had not been consulted and raised concerns that there should be another emergency route to the tunnel should an accident occur on the approach to it.

"Motorists pay taxes - should we not have the option of a slow route as well as a fast one?" she asked

Mr Arnold said that it would not simply be a case of local people using the old A3, others would use it to, and in doing so, the benefits of the scheme would be lost. He also pointed out that the environmental opposition to the development would grow, putting the whole tunnel at risk.

Some questioned the lack of consultation and challenged the Highways Agency representatives to hold a straw poll there and then to show the depth of feeling in keeping the A3 open.

As some instantly raised their hands, speakers could not be heard over the growing noise.

Restoring order, East Hampshire district councillor for Grayshott Ferris Cowper assured the audience: "We've got nine years to fix this - it took us 30 years getting to here. We don't have to feel that we have to find the answers tonight."

Mr Cowper said: "The way the Highways Agency works is that every question you ask is written down. If they don't have the answer right away, then they go away and find it."

Mr Arnold said that as well as the the existing project advisory group, which comprises officers from county and district councils, the Highways Agency was in the process of establishing a wider reference group of representatives from parish and town councils, and local interest and action groups.

He advised those who felt that they were not being heard to contact the agency. He promised that local people would be kept informed in a regular newsletter.

He said that all information on the tunnel could be accessed via the Highways Agency website at http://www.highways.gov.uk">www.highways.gov.uk

After the meeting Mr Cowper told The Herald that he had never seen "such a strength of feeling expressed in the village".

"It's clear that some extremely serious matters must be resolved before we can accept the Highway Agency's proposals for the tunnel." This included the case for keeping the A3 open in some form.

"We need to rethink fundamentally the entire east-west road infrastructure that will carry traffic to the tunnel."

He warned if it was not considered, "the village of Grayshott could be destroyed if it is to be at the heart of the primary access road to the tunnel entrance from the west."

He said that traffic volumes needed to include traffic predictions of those using the new tunnel from the M25 which previously would never had used the existing route.

He said that public consultations would be held about the major issues affecting Grayshott in the village hall in the new year.

"I will ensure that the meetings are well run, constructive and that everyone will be listened to," promised Mr Cowper.