People in South West Surrey are today celebrating the news that the A3 Tunnel has been approved funding by the Government. Jeremy Hunt said: ""This is fantastic news for hundreds of thousands of commuters who get stuck daily in the nightmare of the A3 junction at Hindhead. ""But most of all it is good news for the long-suffering residents of Hindhead and Haslemere who have had to put up with the frustrations of coping with one of the country's worst traffic bottlenecks right on their doorstep.""Not many MPs are able to secure a £320 million project for their constituency only a year after being elected, and campaigning for this has been, alongside local health issues, my top priority. ""However none of this would have been possible without the groundwork laid by my predecessor Virginia Bottomley who fought tirelessly for the project for decades. ""I am also grateful to Nick Skellett, leader of Surrey County Council, for his vital work in persuading the South East Region to back the scheme.""This project has been so blighted with reneged promises that many of us will not believe it is really going to happen until the first digger arrives, but with the funding approved we are 80% of the way there. ""The next step is to see what the public enquiry recommends in terms of keeping the old A3 open and I will be pressing the Secretary of State to publish it as soon as possible. ""But for once, a government decision means we have something to celebrate which is wonderful news for people in South West Surrey.""To read more about the decision visit:http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_localtrans/documents/page/dft_localtrans_611975-01.hcsp#TopOfPage