CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating after the future of the controversial Broughton bypass was thrown into doubt.

The bypass, approved in July last year, was to be part funded by construction firms that were planning to develop land on the site of the former Whittingham Hospital in Goosnargh.

But this week Stephen Byers, secretary of state for transport, local government and the regions, rejected two planning applications by the NHS Executive to turn that site into land for housing.

A third application for around 500 homes that was approved by the secretary of state four years ago is currently being looked at by Preston City Council planners.

Now the county council may be left short of cash for starting the bypass, as it was dependant on the number of houses built.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "Because of this decision we are now going to have to look at the way the project is funded. We will be doing that over the next few weeks."

Plans for the multi-million pound bypass have been in the pipeline since 1995 when it was decided that if the housing plans were approved, a bypass would be needed to reduce traffic congestion.

But residents protested against the housing and bypass scheme saying it would put the countryside at risk.

Last week Stephen Byers agreed, announcing he would not be letting greenfield sites in Preston be developed for housing in the near future.

Frank Platt, of Whittingham Lane, Broughton, who represented the 'Concern for Broughton' campaign group during the original protest, said: "We are over the moon. We have fought this scheme and the way it has grown from a single link-road to a bypass.

"We are now hoping to get the county council to look at the bypass again."

Fellow campaigner Robert Simpson, owner of Kinder's Garage, Garstang Road, said: "We are delighted. If the bypass went through there would be five mechanics, six girls and a couple of salesmen looking for jobs."

A spokesman for the NHS Executive (North West) said: "We are very disappointed. Money that comes from the sale of land like this is ploughed back into the NHS.

"We are now sitting down with our planning advisors and looking at what we are doing next and where to go in the future."