Angry traders who last week blocked Commercial Road, Penryn in protest over council plans to introduce traffic controls are claiming partial victory.

Just over 24 hours after traffic began flowing again, highways officials and local business owners met at Penryn for talks chaired by Penryn mayor Harry Grant.

The local businesses claimed they had not been consulted over the £195,000 road scheme.

Last week's demonstration was organised by David Carne and Roger Cadwallader, who have businesses in Commercial Road. Together with other traders they feel the alterations, which include cycle lanes, pinch points, traffic islands and parking restrictions, will harm their operations.

Various ideas to overcome the deadlock were put forward at the meeting and it was even suggested that the improvement works be abandoned completely. Traffic engineers proposed positioning cones along the road to indicate where the pinch points and cycle lanes would be so that the protestors could get a clearer picture of the end result.

After listening to the traders' concerns, the council announced it was carrying out consultations into the "significant" modifications to the scheme.

English Nature has welcomed the Government announcement that the Fal and the Helford along with eight other marine sites across the country have been forwarded to the European commission as candidates for marine special areas of conservation.

In forwarding the sites, the Government was helping to fulfil a European agreement to maintain a series of protected sites for the continent's most endangered wildlife, said a spokesman.

Falmouth Packet:

They were cutting a celebratory cake 60 feet underground in a a 450 metre tunnel cut out of mud rock by ex-South Crofty miners, and which will eventually carry sewage to a new treatment works near the docks.

The cutting edge ceremony was arranged by South West Water and Delta Engineering to mark the breakthrough in the tunnel which goes from the Docks railway station around a 90 degree bend and out to where there was once a heli-pad and oil tanks.

Falmouth Packet:

It forms part of the the town's £10 million "clean sweep" improvement scheme to reach the EU standard for coastal bathing waters.

By the summer next year the beaches around the resort should be clean and free from sewage and safe to swim in said John Bennett, capital project manager for SWW.