A CROSS town diversion road will not be built through Orford Park, the borough council has indicated.

The Long Lane relief road would have had too much effect on major regeneration plans for the park and the surrounding area, it was decided.

The road scheme would have linked the A574 Birchwood Way to a point on Winwick Road in an effort to keep HGVs off Long Lane and to make cross town travel easier.

Work on the diversion has been stopped and the council's executive board will be told that little weight' should be given to it when the full Orford regeneration plan is presented.

Alan Stephenson, the council's strategic director of environment services, said: "The Orford Project is so exciting and will be of such benefit that to prevent its full impact by sterilising an area of land for a road scheme that may never happen is not a realistic option."

Orford Park is a key element of The Orford Project, which is designed to regenerate both the park and its surroundings.