UNESCO has warned the government that Stonehenge’s status as a world heritage site will be in danger if plans for a tunnel underneath it are not altered.

It comes as the Judicial Review into Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’ decision to allow a two-mile tunnel to be built under Stonehenge, in a project costing £1.7 billion, gets underway this week.

The world heritage committee has said that “the proposed tunnel length remains inadequate to protect the outstanding universal value” of the site. It wants a longer tunnel to ensure that its entry points do not have a “highly adverse and irreversible impact” on the site.

It added: “It is regretted that for such an iconic world heritage property, the argument persists that the perceived benefits of a longer tunnel do not outweigh the costs.”

Tom Holland, Stonehenge Alliance President, said: “UNESCO come in late but they come in hard.

“A reminder that the Government is in contravention of international as well as national planning requirements with its shameful plans for the Stonehenge Tunnel.”

Andy Rhind-Tutt, former mayor of Amesbury and long-term opponent to the project, said: “A stark reminder before the judicial review of Grant Shapps mind blowing decision to desecrate Britain and one of the World’s most significant archeological landscapes.

“UNESCO quite rightly prepares to put Stonehenge on the list of World Heritage in Danger.”

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