Baltic link to go ahead

MALMO - A controversial scheme to link Scandinavia to the heart of Europe by a 10-mile bridge and tunnel was given a provisional go-ahead by the Swedish government yesterday, provided strict environmental conditions are met, writes Leonard Doyle.

The consortium building the link will have to prove to Sweden's Water Tribunal that the bridge will not have a negative impact on the delicate ecological balance of the Baltic Sea. The proposal to join Copenhagen with Malmo by spanning the Oresund strait has caused uproar in both Sweden and Denmark. But business interests throughout Scandinavia support it.

Several British contractors, including Trafalgar House, Balfour Beatty and John Laing, have joined the 20 consortia that have so far applied to work on the project.