AN £8m road bypass scheme aimed at regenerating a former coalfield area has been revived two years after the Government rejected it.

Durham County Council, in partnership with the East Durham Task Force, first considered building the 5.1km bypass in the mid-1990s.

They intended it to provide access to the former Hawthorn Cokeworks site, which they hoped would be developed, without the need to go through Murton.

The project was included in the council's Local Transport Plan for 2001 to 2006, and an application for Government funding was made in 2001, as part of plans for an overall coalfield regeneration route.

But when the application was refused, the idea was shelved.

Now, in the light of continuing efforts to regenerate the Hawthorn site, Durham County Council is looking at the scheme again.

It hopes that by making a stronger case for the overall benefits of the bypass, it can convince the Government to support it.

Harris Harvey, the council's environment and technical services business manager, said: "The Government was not happy that the scheme produced the economic benefits that it would expect road schemes to deliver.

"But it provides much-needed access to the Hawthorn site, which is now being reclaimed.

"Easington District Council is very keen to attract some good development and get jobs on to the site.

"One of the things the Government told us the last time was that it would like to see more certainty attached to the prospect of development, so it is a bit of a chicken and egg situation."

Mr Harvey said he hoped the Government would take a broader view when the application was resubmitted, subject to planning permission being granted.

He said: "We are trying to respond to what the Government has advised us and with the district council, we will put forward the strongest submission we possibly can."

To enable local people to comment on the bypass, exhibitions will be staged at the Glebe Centre, in Murton, and at South Hetton Community Centre, from next Wednesday, until April 4.

Mr Harvey said: "It would be very nice to have the public behind us and to be able to give evidence of that."