THE NEW route of a controversial bypass in West Sussex has been announced by Highways England - and it will avoid the national park.

Five of the six options for the A27 near Arundel would have involved building new roads in the South Downs National Park.

Today, Highways England said the preferred route will go south of the national park.

Arundel is a regular bottleneck on the A27, with 21,000 journeys made each day.

Original proposals to replace a bottleneck stretch of single carriageway were met with protest in 2017.

The Argus:

After a consultation period, the new route of the bypass will go south of the South Downs national park and includes a new dual carriageway between Crossbush in the east and a new junction near Tye Lane in the west.

More than 1,600 people attended the 2019 consultation exhibitions, with Highway England receiving 4,945 response forms as well as 113 other written responses.

A spokesman for Highways England said: "The plans include a new five-mile dual carriageway which will draw traffic away from Arundel and reduce rat-running on minor roads through the national park.

"The new bypass will complete a missing link in the A27, the only major east to west route south of the M25, and avoids the South Downs national park completely."