ENVIRONMENTALISTS were last night at loggerheads over plans to upgrade the road dubbed the most dangerous in Britain.

The Northern Echo revealed last week how the Government is to press ahead with a dual carriageway upgrade for the A66. The 50 mile stretch between Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire and Penrith, Cumbria, has seen dozens of deaths in recent years leading to repeated calls for safety improvements.

Environmental group Transport 2000 blasted the proposals claiming they set an "appalling example" and signalled the start of a vast new road building programme. But last night John Gill, of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), said they had gone over the top with their comments which had taken aback its members.

Mr Gill, who is chairman of the Swaledale branch of the CPRE and a Richmondshire district councillor, said: "Not all environmentalists are against this upgrade.

"We realise that there will be some environmental damage, but the necessary improvements to safety override that. "Our view is that some of the many accidents we have seen will be prevented by dualling and we have been pushing for this for sometime. "An upgrade will be for the benefit of everybody and will not go through virgin territory as there is a road there that already exists."

Transport 2000 claims the upgrade will damage Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and also have a negative impact on the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Beauty.

The Government has said work costing £141m is due to start on the A66 from 2004.

Three schemes to extend the carriageway at Temple Sowerby, and between Greta Bridge and Stephen Bank, and Carkin Moor to Scotch Corner are already in the early planning stages and could be completed within the next five years. But it could still take between 15 to 20 years to finish the entire project with about a third of the route still left to be dualled.

Campaigners say the work required needs to be done as a matter of urgency before the A66 adds to its death toll. ends