FOUR options will be considered when access to a Richmond industrial estate goes back under the spotlight next week.

People with homes around the Gallowfields Trading Estate have become increasingly concerned about the amount of traffic using their roads as rat runs.

A new access road has been suggested as a long-term solution, taking traffic away from residential estates.

On Wednesday, North Yorkshire County Council's Richmondshire area committee will examine four shortlisted schemes.

The county council's environmental services director, Mike Moore, has confirmed a shortlist comprising Option 1, costing £655,000; Option 3, costing £880,000; Option 3A, costed at £700,000 and Option 3B, £1.1m.

The consultants commissioned to look at the alternatives have indicated their preference would be the first option as it would be the simplest to implement - and therefore the cheapest.

Mr Moore said that the county council had to decide if the project was significant enough to warrant its financial support. He said: "Indeed, it may be that members of the council would now conclude, on the basis of the work undertaken and the estimated costs of the preferred options, that the funding of a new access road should be discussed with the district council in its economic generation role."

Richmond town and district councillor John Harris, one of the leaders in the campaign for a new access road on to the industrial estate, called for early talks on the matter between the county and district authorities.He said: "The difficulty has always been that responsibility has been divided in the past.

"The county council insists it is only responsible for the roads while the district looks after the planning of the estate.

"I have always thought a new access road would be better approaching from the western side of the estate but what we need is a co-ordinated approach. We cannot let the industrial estate expand without first solving the problem of traffic movements."