BLACKBURN could be left with a £12million “bridge to nowhere” after plans for the town centre’s vital orbital road were scrapped.

The £4million Freckleton Street link road was expected to join up with the recently-opened Wainwright Bridge next year.

But plans were withdrawn after English Heritage opposed the demolition of a listed 18th century building in the path of the town centre road.

Kate Hollern, leader of the council’s opposition Labour group, said the move had left the scheme “in tatters”.

She claimed the bridge could now become a “white elephant”.

Council bosses said they would put in a new application in the spring.

They will further investigate two sites in the path of the proposed road: the listed former home of the police superintendent in King Street and a graveyard.

But council chiefs admitted there was ‘no plan B’, with St Wilfrid’s High School and Technology College on one side and the town centre on the other of the proposed road.

Critics said the council had ‘jumped the gun’ by building the bridge and buying Byrom Supplies, Chapel Street, to make way for the final piece in Blackburn’s orbital route, linking the road up with Montague Street.

Coun Hollern criticised the council for not “doing its homework.

She said: “It’s very uncertain. We are in a mess.

“They paid an awful lot for Byrom Supplies and if they can’t knock the building down it really will be the end of the road.

"Without that road, the bridge will be a white elephant. It goes nowhere.”

An English Heritage spokesman said: “We remain opposed to the proposal to demolish one of Blackburn’s few remaining listed 18th century buildings.

"We are anxious to see that the correct procedures are followed.”

The argument looks set to result in a public inquiry with both sides standing firm.

Richard Prest, of Blackburn Civic Society, which has also objected to the demolition, added: “If they don’t manage to demolish the building they would have to radically alter the plans they have got.”

The planning application was lodged in March 2008, and was set to go before the council’s planning committee but was pulled when English Heritage’s objections came to light.

Also in the path of the dual carriageway is St Peter’s Church of England graveyard.

Council bosses say there are about 1,000 bodies buried there, but some historians have claimed the true amount is much higher.

And in August the Lancashire Telegraph revealed a second, hidden, graveyard had also been discovered.

Adam Scott, the council’s strategic director of regeneration and environment, said: “The route of the road remains unchanged.

"The planning application was withdrawn for technical reasons while we investigate fully the archaeological issues raised in relation to the possibility of a second graveyard.

“With any major scheme such as this, we have to ensure that what we have proposed to do remains the best option.

“In this case, our assessments have shown that we have no alternative but to demolish the building to improve accessibility to the Freckleton Street area, thereby encouraging desperately needed investment, regeneration and environmental improvements.”

Executive member for regeneration Coun Alan Cottam added: “It’s nothing sinister.

"We are still committed to the direct route through.

“It takes time to go through this process and there is no urgency on this.

"It may well go to a public inquiry.”