A £500-million ground-breaking plan to span Morecambe Bay with the world's first green' 12-mile bridge has taken a step forward.

It was announced this week a new company has been launched to take the causeway link between Barrow and Heysham into its next phase of consultation and planning.

Staveley businessmen David Brockbank, who represents a consortium of private international investors, told The Westmorland Gazette it was an exciting development and spelled the start of a two-year mission to galvanise whole communities into backing the pioneering initiative.

Directors of Bridge Across the Bay Limited are all field leaders in renewable energy and the environment, bringing a wealth of expertise to the project, explained Mr Brockbank.

Former chairman of the Lake District National Park Authority development control committee, Mr Brockbank said the company planned to spend the next two years on a comprehensive consultation process which would leave no stone unturned and no voice unheard.

"Only after that is completed will we formulate final designs and apply for planning permission," he added.

"This is such a sensitive issue we have to do everything properly. We have to know there is a firm consensus of opinion behind us, and would not press on ahead without it.

"However, I am confident there is huge support. When I gave a presentation to Cumbria Tourist Board only one out of 80 was not wholly convinced. Absolutely no one has said this is an appalling idea."

Mr Brockbank said although he hoped work would start in 2010, it was a case of taking a step at a time.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint, but we hope we can continue to gather momentum."

The bridge will straddle the environmentally sensitive sands of Morecambe Bay and harness power generated by tides turning turbines set beneath the bridge. Electricity would be fed into the National Grid via Heysham Power Station, making the scheme self-generating and avoiding tolls for motorists.

Around 2,000 jobs could be created by the development.

Four undisclosed investors two from the UK, one from Holland and another from Australia are financing the ambitious scheme, which is not courting Government cash.

New directors in Bridge Across the Bay Limited have been named as: Michael Hulme, chairman of Westlakes Renaissance Urban Regenerations Company; Professor Bill Davies, director of Europe's biggest environment research council NERC, based at Lancaster University; Julian Carter, general manager of Renewables Northwest; and David Brockbank.

Those behind the project say the bridge will reduce journey times between Barrow and Preston by an hour, and save 240 tons of carbon dioxide emissions entering the atmosphere daily, reducing the effects of global warming.

The company also points out that the average power available is 515 megawatts a year. Heysham 1 Nuclear Power Station produces 1,200 megawatts a year.

The idea of building a bridge across Morecambe Bay was first suggested by George Stevenson in 1834, and surfaced again in the 1960s, with a barrage plan that would have created a fresh water reservoir.

The last barrage proposals in the 1980s were dropped because of environmental concerns.