A SCHEME which will cut a swathe through the Cotswolds has been revived.

National Grid wants to lay miles of underground steel piping from Sapperton to the north of the district to improve gas supply to the south west.

The company says the pipeline is needed to meet growing demand for gas in the west and to accommodate changing gas flows in the area.

In December 2007 National Grid postponed the plans saying demand had been overestimated.

National Grid project manager Mark Beard said: “Subject to approval from Department of Energy and Climate Change, we will start construction of this essential pipeline next spring for expected completion in October 2010.”

Conservation groups are calling for the route to be diverted away from the Cotswolds to the west running between Cheltenham and Gloucester and entering through Shurdington.

Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “This pipeline is needed in the national interest but I will be studying it very carefully to see it causes minimal damage to the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and to see whether there are alternative routes.”

National Grid is hosting an information exhibition about the plans at Andoversford Village Hall on February 10 from 3-8pm.