National Trust members voted against a motion asking the charity to rethink its support for a £1.7 billion two-mile tunnel for the A303 near Stonehenge.

More than 127,000 of the charity’s members voted on new proposals and council candidates at the Annual General Meeting on Saturday.

Other motions rejected in recent years included criticising the charity's involvement in Pride events and rewilding projects.

The Trust has supported the Stonehenge Tunnel scheme since it was announced in 2014.

The motion was proposed by Dr Kate Fielden and seconded by John Adams, OBE. Both members are supporters of the Stonehenge Alliance, a campaign group that opposes the tunnel plans.

It said: "Neither our resolution nor any members’ resolution presented to the National Trust AGM was successful. The results in our case: For 30,670; Against 81,746; Abstain 15,409. We are naturally disappointed in the result but unsurprised.

"Nevertheless, we were heartened that more than 30,000 National Trust members supported our resolution, which should encourage the Trustees to think long and hard about their stance at Stonehenge. There was evident support for our cause in the room and on line."

The National Trust’s membership has been divided in recent years, with campaign group Restore Trust criticising the charity’s policies on social inclusion and rewilding.

But the majority of members voted down a motion to condemn the National Trust’s participation in Pride events with 65 per cent voting against it at the AGM.

Meanwhile, 70 per cent rejected a motion to criticise recent rewilding and re-wetting projects on National Trust farmland as well as the charity buying farmland for that purpose.

Restore Trust, which has been seeking to gain more control over the direction of the charity, saw little success as both its motions failed to get enough support to be carried forward.

A majority of 68 per cent voted against its motion to establish an ombudsman to oversee the charity’s work.

The group’s motion to abolish the proxy vote system – where members who do not attend the AGM are given the option to hand over their vote to the chairman – also failed to get support from a majority of members.

None of the seven candidates that Restore Trust backed were elected to the council.

However, all seven candidates recommended by the existing council members’ Nominations Committee were elected, including Harris Bokhari, founder of the charity Patchwork Foundation, and Sally Hunt, a trade union leader.

Hilary McGrady, director general of the National Trust, said: “Our Annual General Meeting is one of the most important events in our calendar.

“It is an essential part of our democratic governance process, as it gives our members the opportunity to ask the questions on the subjects that matter most to them and to have their say on the direction and focus of the National Trust.

“Our AGM is also a celebration of everything we do: our stories, our places and our people. I am delighted that we were able to share so much of that today.”