COUNTY officials have lodged a planning application for Weymouth's long-awaited Orange Route relief road.

The proposed route will punch a 3.75-mile single carriageway from Manor Roundabout to the Ridgeway to relieve the A354 from Weymouth to Dorchester and the A353 to the east.

A new road from Preston to Littlemoor and a 1,000-space park-and-ride facility in the Lodmoor area are also included.

The relief road has polarised opinion between those keen to see a solution to Weymouth's chronic traffic problems and opponents who feel the new road will wreck the local environment.

The Woodland Trust owns Two Mile Coppice and spokesman James Simpson said the organisation opposed that part of the road which would badly damage the site.

He added: "Proposals for the bypass suggest new planting sites and a country park to 'replace' the ancient wood but this would be like tearing down Stonehenge for a car park and replacing it with a concrete copy a few miles away. The result would be a pale imitation of the original and ultimately pointless.

"The vast cost of the Weymouth bypass could be better spent improving the existing road and public transport links." He said only two per cent of ancient woodland now remained and 'once lost it is lost for ever'.

But Weymouth and Portland planning committee chairman and environment spokesman Coun Doug Hollings said: "I am sad to see part of the woodland lost at Two Mile Coppice but this is offset by safeguards for Horselynch Plantation and an extensive nature conservation area in the Lorton Valley. "There will also be 70,000 trees and shrubs planted, so on balance I think the scheme is acceptable.

"I believe the relief road will ease congestion on Dorchester Road and improve residents' quality of life while the link road to Preston is also important.

"I would encourage residents to come and look at the plans because they're vital for the future of Weymouth and Portland."

County planning and transportation spokesman Coun Angus Campbell said: "Weymouth relief road is Dorset's biggest-ever capital construction project and is an essential part of our Local Transport Plan for 2006-11. It will make a big difference to everyone who lives or travels in the Weymouth/Dorchester area.

"The local road network is struggling to cope with the demands of a rising population, increased tourism and business needs. The fact that we will host sailing events for the 2012 Olympics will only add to these transport pressures.

"Our proposals for the relief road will go a long way towards tackling these issues, cutting congestion, removing traffic in residential roads and providing better routes for pedestrians and cyclists."

Weymouth and Portland principal planning officer Karyn Punchard said it was the first planning application for the Orange Route relief road and the first chance to look at proposals in detail.

The authority had to check that it conformed to the Local Plan, she said, both in terms of the route and environmental measures proposed to compensate for damage to Two Mile Coppice.

She added: "We want to consider detailed landscaping schemes, details of fencing and lighting and acoustic studies on potential noise and disturbance to residents."

All plans are available for the public to see at North Quay and the council hopes to put up presentation boards soon displaying large plan overviews of the relief road.