COUNTESS Road Residents' Group, which was set up to fight the Stonehenge visitor centre, has vowed to embark on a "damage limitation exercise" after the £67 million attraction got the go-ahead.

The group has accused councillors of "lacking moral courage" following their decision to approve the application, but say they now want to talk to English Heritage about how the impact on their homes can be reduced.

Last week the Planning and Regulatory Panel eventually agreed that the tourist attraction could be built but only if the £500 million Stonehenge road scheme, including the tunnel, also takes place.

The decision came 12 months after the panel rejected the same plan - much to the anger of people living near the site at Countess Road East.

"Despite the project being deeply resented and unpopular locally, as it will be highly disruptive and intrusive, and almost all members of the panel saying that they felt the proposal sited the visitor centre in the wrong place, they nevertheless gave it their backing claiming it did not violate any planning regulations," said chairman of the residents' group George du Pre.

Members are furious about the council's U-turn which followed the threat of a costly appeal due to start this December.

"The application resubmitted was exactly the same, down to the last comma, as the application rejected in July 2005," said Mr du Pre.

"We believe this is an extraordinary and unprecedented way for a local council and a government department to operate.

"We also believe that our councillors have acted in an unrepresentative manner that demonstrates a total lack of moral courage.

"As the law stands opponents don't have the right of appeal.

"We will be seeking meaningful consultation with English Heritage to try to knock some of the rough edges off this application and keep its impact to a minimum. It is time for a damage limitation exercise."

Councillors said that they carefully considered the plans and, although they appreciated the strong feelings of local residents, the application met all the planning tests.

They say they rejected the scheme last time because there was too much uncertainty surrounding the road scheme and they were concerned about the impact of the land train.

Now the council claims that new information came to light and a site visit to the land train route was carried out for the first time which led them to approve the application, subject to the roads scheme going ahead.