A PLAN to build the world’s longest rope bridge may be resurrected after groups behind the scheme started discussions about a scaled-down project.

The idea to build a £4.5m, 550ftlong suspended rope bridge over the Tees, near Barnard Castle, first emerged in 2003.

Many people and councillors objected to aspects of the scheme, notably the access road and facilities at both ends of the former viaduct.

Teesdale Marketing now says the bridge could be built at a fraction of the cost and be just as successful without the controversial additions.

Engineering consultancy firm Waterman Aspen is carrying out a feasibility study on behalf of Durham County Council.

Bill Oldfield, chairman of Teesdale Marketing, said: “The pure idea of the bridge has always been what we were interested in and it is what we investigated in the first place.

“We could still maintain the important elements of the bridge, restoring a view which hasn’t been seen since the trains stopped crossing the bridge in the 1960s and linking up with several walking routes, but without other elements.

“It would be unlike anything else in County Durham and could be the longest of its type in the world.”

Mr Oldfield and members of Teesdale Marketing will go on a fact-finding mission next week to the Rhone region of France, which has a similar bridge.

No costs have been drawn up for the project, but Mr Oldfield said a similar bridge in Switzerland cost just £250,000.

Coun John Yarker, of Barnard Castle Town Council, said: “When the first plan was announced there was a lot of support.

“It was when they started to talk about shops and cafes and barging a road through the golf course that people began to question it.

“Nobody is going to argue with the idea of attracting more tourists to the area, but it has to be in the right way.”

Coun Neil Foster, Durham County Council cabinet member for regeneration and economic development, said: “It’s important to stress straightaway that this study will answer many of the questions surrounding the suitability of, and appetite for, what is an entirely new proposal.”

The concept of a bridge and heritage woodland walk had no resemblance to proposals seven years ago.