A QUICKER, cheaper and cleaner solution to road safety problems on the A66 trans-Pennine route could have been found, environmentalists have said.

Transport 2000, which campaigns to reduce the environmental impact of road traffic, claims the £140m scheme to dual the 50-mile road from Scotch Corner to Penrith will damage important habitats and landscapes.

The Government announced the upgrade last month following a second safety survey of the road, which has claimed more than 70 lives in the last ten years.

The news was welcomed by the A66 Completion Group and others who have campaigned for full dualling of the route.

However, Transport 2000 said more modest changes, which could have been implemented more quickly and cheaply, would have brought about the same reduction in accidents.

Its spokesman, Steve Hounsham, said: "Our solution would have been a number of small-scale changes at troublesome points such as junctions and better speed management to try to prevent people putting their foot down.

"We would also have supported a concerted effort to get freight off the road and onto the rail."

The proposed dual carriageway would damage the Eden Valley Site of Special Scientific Interest, at the Cumbrian end of the route, and come right up to the edge of the Lake District National Park.

"The other major impact will be on the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty," said Mr Hounsham.

Transport 2000 recognised that there was a safety problem with the road and was as concerned as anyone about it.

Mr Hounsham said: "Where we differ is that we think a much cheaper, quicker and simpler series of improvements would be the solution."