FAMOUS as the winner of football's first World Cup, a North-East village has also enjoyed less favourable notoriety as a bottleneck for frustrated motorists.

As far back as anyone can remember, residents of West Auckland, County Durham, have been calling for a new road to take away the traffic clogging the centre, where a cross-country route linking the west and east of the country meets the A68, a major route to and from Scotland.

For years, campaigners have been calling for the bypass that Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has just approved.

In the early 1950s, village county councillor Bobby Curry saw the need for a new road.

Even so, neither he nor his successor, George Steadman, could have envisaged that by the 21st Century 17,000 vehicles would pass through the village every day.

Residents have had problems with the noise and found it difficult to cross from one side of the village to the other.

There have also been fears for some of the historic buildings along the A688.

Sir William Whitfield told a public inquiry into the bypass that heavy traffic was causing major damage to his Grade I-listed 17th Century home, St Helen's Hall, yards along the roadside from the 12th Century St Helen's Parish Church, one of the oldest in England.

He spoke of the desperate need for the bypass when he addressed inspector John Watson at the inquiry, held in West Auckland Methodist Church last July.

Mr Watson ruled that the benefits the road would bring to 3,143 homes outweighed the negative effects it would have on the lives of objectors Andrew and Vera Wilson, whose house will be at the junction of the new road and the A68, at Hummerbeck.

West Auckland's current county councillor, Sonny Douthwaite, is relieved the fight is over. He said: "We have a conservation area and some wonderful listed buildings which need protection.

"We haven't had an intense campaign over the years, but we have never lifted the pressure.

"We were told in the past that the money wasn't there and had to watch as other places got the new roads they wanted, but we have got there at last."

Durham County Council, which included initial works on the road in its Local Transport Plan, has included the first phase of construction, a bridge over the River Gaunless, in its 2005/6 programme.

Last night, a spokesperson was unable to give a completion date, but said the council welcomed the inspector's decision.