I recently attended a meeting with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Transport, together with representatives of West Sussex County Council, the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and the Government Office of the South East.

Quite properly, he could not tell us what would be in the announcement, which he advised was imminent, but all of us left the meeting with the impression the go-ahead for the Arundel bypass would be given.

Indeed, this was the line which was "spun" to the media.

The stretch of the A27 through Arundel is one of the worst congestion spots in the South, with regular jams at rush hour and weekends, especially in the summer.

The bridge over the Arun running up to the Ford Road roundabout is a notorious black spot.

The bridge over the railway was constructed for light horsedrawn traffic and is inadequate for the volume and weight of vehicles it now has to bear.

The Government's Multi Modal Study of the A27 pointed to the pressing need for a bypass round Arundel and the SEEDA has campaigned for one as a top priorities.

I was therefore gob-smacked at the Government's announcement not to proceed with the Arundel bypass as it would have a negative impact on heritage and landscape as well as the water environment.

The worsening congestion has a major negative environmental impact as well as causing citizens and businesses inconvenience.

All those who have been involved in discussing the much-needed bypass have stressed the need for carefully considered environmental planning to be built into the project from the outset.

The "pink/blue" route, favoured to date, specifically avoids both the proposed boundaries of the National Park and disturbing the ancient part of Binsted Woods.

I can only presume the Government has no appreciation of the economic needs of West Sussex and no interest in the needs of the many citizens who are obliged to travel on the A27 through the Arundel congestion black spot.

-Howard Flight MP for Arundel and South Downs