A new �310m undersea pipeline will link Bacton in Norfolk with Holland

The 142-mile pipe, to be built in the next couple of years, is designed to allow Britain to import gas after supplies in the North Sea run out.

Netherlands government-owned Gasunie had to win exemption from European Union rules controlling access to gas supplies before a pipe could go ahead.

Gas consumption is expected to grow in the UK as its supplies deplete.

The new pipeline will form part of network which will eventually mean British consumers could be burning natural gas from the Norwegian sector of the North Sea and the Ural Mountains in Russia.

Exemption from EU rules

"The exemption was necessary to justify the investment in the pipeline," said a spokesman for Gasunie's transport division which is leading the project.

"It will be 36 inches in diameter and will have an initial capacity of 8bn cubic metres."

An existing pipe between Belgium and Norfolk is also being expanded.

The new rules mean pipeline owners have to share capacity and the Dutch firm has to ensure its Continental grid will maintain agreed supplies to Britain.