BUILDING a power-generating bridge across Morecambe Bay is a viable' option.

That's the view of Cumbria County Council - and now it is to lobby the Government to fund a feasibility study into the idea.

Lawson Short, portfolio holder for environ-mental issues, told a cabinet meeting this week: "The main thrust is that it would provide renewable energy. The thought of using it as a bridge is a kind of addition it is not the main point of the project."

He said the idea of a Bay bridge - 12-miles long and crossing from Heysham to Ramp-side - had been around since the 1960s but new technology meant it was now viable'.

Coun Short warned that the project was likely to prove highly controversial because the bridge would run through some of the most valuable wildlife habitats in Britain.

"The environmental lobby would oppose this, but if environmental problems can be overcome it would be a very good project for Furness and the west coast of Cumbria as well as for north Lancashire" he said.

Estimates suggest a bridge designed to harness the power of the tide to generate renewable electricity could produce 515 megawatts of power roughly equivalent to half that of a medium-sized power station.