CHRONIC traffic congestion on roads into Weymouth is strangling firms, the town's business community says today.

Council chiefs should make the Brown Route relief road the number one priority to help boost the economy of South Dorset, they said.

Traders are urging environmentalists opposing the multi-million pound scheme to back down.

They spoke after meeting Dorset County Council's director of environmental services Miles Butler at the Pavilion yesterday.

Mr Butler, who joined the county council last year, arranged the meeting to brief the business community on the progress of the Brown Route and listen to concerns.

He said the authority was working to submit a planning application by next spring and it was hoped that construction of the road could start in 2005. A road completion date was given as 2008.

But Mr Butler warned that the application could go to a public inquiry if the Secretary of State is convinced that there are significant environmental concerns. That could delay the scheme.

Representatives of more than 20 businesses attended the meeting including Portland Port, the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy and Condor Ferries, as well as hoteliers, tourism operators and travel companies.

Bill White, chief executive of the Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "Our discussion with Mr Butler highlighted the fact that these so-called environmentalists are hijacking the road scheme and trying to prevent it from going ahead.

"We all are protectors of the environment and want to safeguard its future but we also care about the quality of life for the people of Weymouth and Portland, and the majority of them want to see this road built.

"Businesses are being strangled by the lack of a relief road, they need good transport access if they are to prosper. It's also vitally important to encourage business development in the borough and to support tourism."

Mr White added: "We are optimistic about the Brown Route. Everyone in the business community wants to see it built as soon as possible but realises that Dorset County Council has to go through the appropriate channels.

"My message to the environmentalists is to allow the vast majority of people whose lives are going to be improved no end by the Brown Route to be given the democratic right to see this road built for environmental, economic and safety reasons.

"The pressure groups against this road are in a minority and the amount of time and attention they get is disproportionate to the amount of people they represent."

Dorset County Council is carrying out further environmental studies following the discovery of a bat colony at Horselynch Plantation. The information collected will be detailed in an environmental statement which will be submitted with the planning application.

Mr Butler said: "The previous application for a dual carriageway Brown Route was not called in for a planning inquiry so obviously we'd like the same thing to happen. An inquiry was held last time but that dealt with side road orders.

"The Government's Green Paper on planning stated that ministers were keen to see planning applications delivered more quickly, which is encouraging, but that does not mean we will be riding roughshod over objections.

"We are working with various environmental organisations to try and resolve issues in the environmental statement."

He added: "I appreciate there is a strong feeling that the people of Weymouth and Portland, and particularly the business community, want to see this road project happen quickly.

"There's no doubt there is a huge amount of support for the scheme. But there are a number of environmental organisations that are watching very carefully how major road schemes progress and are raising objections."

Matt Pullman, chairman of South Dorset Friends of the Earth, said: "There is a significant number of people who live on Dorchester Road who want a new road come what may. They are not concerned about the consequences and I don't think that makes for good transport policy.

"The business community seems to think a new road is vital for the area's economic survival. That may have been the case when Portland navy base closed down but now I think Weymouth is doing remarkably well on the regeneration front and the unemployment rate is below the national average."

He added: "There are a number of groups concerned about the Brown Route apart from Friends of the Earth including Transport 2000, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the wildlife and woodland trusts and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England.

"If you add the membership of those groups up you'll find that it is not an insignificant minority."