A FORMER poet laureate has thrown his weight behind residents campaign to protect their village amidst plans to dual the A120.

Sir Andrew Motion, who held the prestigious title between 1999 and 2009, has backed the Stisted Action Group’s fight against option A, which would run through the village splitting it in half.

He said: “It did not take me a second to make my mind up. I grew up in the village and the idea of having a road smashing through it is depressing because nobody likes seeing their past destroyed like that.

“Stisted is a place which is rich in wildlife and it has two large conservation areas. It is a very small village and this road would completely wreck the fabric of that.”

Essex County Council opened a consultation into five possible route options for a new dualled A120 in January, with a decision on a preferred route expected to be made by autumn.

Sir Andrew said: “My parents and grandparents are buried there. I have written about the village in my poetry a lot and it is a holy and sacred place to me.

“We need to approach these things thinking about how we can really reduce the number of cars, for example with better public transport.

“The whole foundation for building the road seems to be on shaky ground.”

The action group feels that Stisted has been neglected in the consultation process by Essex County Council and the group hosted its own consultation event in the village earlier in February.

Sir Andrew said: “I think it is wonderful what the action group are doing and I feel very very deeply supportive for them, but there are only around 600 people living in the village and the idea of some multi-faceted organisation trampling on them concerns me, so I want to help if I can.”

Banners directing people to a new website about the group’s cause will soon be on display around the village

Residents have started conducting their own speed, wildlife and environment surveys and a petition, available in the Onley Arms and the village Post Office, has now reached 500 signatures.

Jenny Bailey, chairman of the Stisted Action Group said: “We are extremely grateful to Sir Andrew for supporting his village and highlighting the damage the A120 would cause to our community.

“Sir Andrew is passionate about our historic village and the beautiful surrounding countryside and we are privileged to have him stand beside us during our campaign.”

The Stisted Action Group has managed to organised a question and answer session with Essex County Council and Jacobs, which takes place on Monday at Stisted Village Hall between 7pm and 9pm.

Visit www.a120braintree.co.uk.