A rural watchdog is warning that a series of damaging road schemes through open countryside could be given the go-ahead by ministers under the guise of taking an "integrated approach" to transport problems.

The Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) says government studies designed to find alternative solutions to congestion are being used to revive road projects which had previously been shelved.

Ministers are due to decide shortly whether to allow the building of the controversial Hastings by-pass in East Sussex, which is being strongly opposed by environmental groups claiming it will damage nationally-important landscapes and wildlife habitats.

The road was recommended by the first of a series of studies designed to take a new approach to congestion, by looking at a range of solutions including public transport and encouraging walking and cycling.

Excuse

But the CPRE says there is growing evidence these "multi-modal studies" are being used as an excuse to revive road schemes which had previously been shelved.

It says damaging roads are now being considered as part of these studies in the West Midlands Green Belt, the Blackdown Hills in Somerset and open countryside in Cambridgeshire.

The Department of Transport has strongly denied the claims of the CPRE, saying the studies allow the government to take a fresh look at local congestion problems, looking at the role which can be played by all forms of transport.

It says they allow transport investment to be planned in a more integrated way.