GRAYSHOTT'S East Hampshire district councillor has resigned from the high-profile action group he founded almost a year ago in order to defend his right to speak in a crucial council debate this week.

Ferris Cowper, who founded Save the Old A3, (STOAT) last February, agreed to stand down from the organisation which has campaigned against closing the existing stretch of the A3, when the A3 tunnel is built at Hindhead.

He agreed to resign after warnings that he could be silenced in discussions at the EHDC full council meeting on Wednesday of this week, held to formulate its response to the £150 million tunnel scheme, because of his interests in the protest group.

"I have resigned from STOAT and have written confirmation from the chairman," said Mr Cowper.

He said he had agreed "in order to allow me to take part in the democratic process. What a nonsense," he declared.

"What does it matter if you are close to the subject? In some ways it could be seen that people closest to it know more about it. Had I been stopped from speaking, it would have been a complete denial of democracy."

The council was expected on Wednesday at its meeting at EHDC headquarters in Petersfield, to suspend standing orders to allow cross-table discussion on the issue of the A3 Hindhead tunnel scheme.

Mr Cowper said he hoped to summarise the overall situation and express the concerns of Grayshott residents at the meeting.

"The big issue was that on Wednesday I would be there as a member for Grayshott, representing the issues of Grayshott," he said.

STOAT, which claims to have up to 500 members, and which has handed in a petition with 3,500 signatures supporting its campaign, "deals with keeping the old A3 open and the problems affecting Grayshott, Hindhead, and majors on the problems of the proposed Hazel Grove junction," said Mr Cowper.

"But I wanted to talk about the risks of a traffic magnet sucking untold heavy vehicles through the village and destroying it forever.

"People who have lived in this village for more than 40 years cannot remember a bigger issue," said Mr Cowper.

"I also want to ensure that there is a public inquiry about the scheme."

He was also expected to tell the meeting of what he sees as the lack of capacity for traffic at the Hazel Grove and other junctions, especially during the school-run periods of the day.

"Traffic will tail back through narrow country lanes, which will cause horrendous congestion and tailbacks through the tunnel.

"This is a point denied by the Highways Agency," he claimed, adding: "There is still a majority in favour of retaining the old A3."

Mr Cowper praised the work of EHDC which, he said, "had done its best to reflect the worries of the community by holding the debate in such an open and positive forum. Letters have been written and as many as possible have been attached to the reports for Wednesday's meeting."

"EHDC has been a beacon of democracy and statements have been made in the open."

In turn, Mr Cowper criticised Waverley Borough Council for what he claimed was a lack of openness, and for holding some meetings about the tunnel scheme "in closed sessions".