A NEW £6.2m road expected to help economic regeneration in County Durham looks set to win planning approval.

The Wheatley Hill to Bowburn Link Road has been planned by Durham County Council and won Government funding last year in the Council's five-year Local Transport Plan.

The road will run from a new roundabout on the B6291, south of the A1(M) interchange at Bowburn, to another roundabout at Cassop Moor.

The council says the development will complete the network of primary roads between the A1(M) and the A19 at Wingate, will remove lorries from unsuitable local roads and assist in economic regeneration by improving access to Central and East Durham.

The council's planning committee was this week being recommended to grant permission for the new road. If all goes to plan, work is expected to begin on the project in the late summer.

A report to councillors says that Durham City Council and parish councils in the area have raised no objections to the plans.

The Highways Agency is not objecting but has 'some reservations about the potential impact of the link road on the operation of the A1(M) trunk road and junction near the site'.

Two letters of objection and two letters in favour have been received from the public.