AN 18-METRE tunnel to allow chickens to cross a rural road has been given the go-ahead after farmers told councillors they needed extra room to be able to call their eggs free range.

The underpass will allow thousands of birds from an egg farm at Howden, near Gifford, access to fields on either side of the 60mph road.

A meeting of East Lothian Council’s planning committee on Tuesday heard that concerns had been raised by the local community about whether the chickens would use the tunnel and about 1,000 extra vehicles being diverted through a small village while the work was carried out.

However, councillors heard from representatives of East Lothian Eggs Limited, which is based at Howden Farm, that the additional roaming land was required by Scottish Government guidelines to allow them to call their eggs free range.

The farm was given planning permission last year to expand its hen sheds to allow it to double its flock from 32,000 chickens to 64,000.

READ MORE: Egg farmer hopes to build underpass for chickens to cross road

Councillor Donna Collins, herself a farmer, called the application before the committee after local concerns were raised with her; however, she said that hearing the details of the plans from the farm operators had “alleviated a lot of concerns”.

She told the meeting that some residents had been concerned by the size of the underpass, which they seemed to think was much bigger than planned, and vehicles "whizzing around" through it.

However, she was reassured that the tunnels would not be big enough for people to use and were solely for the chickens, who the applicants said were "pretty self-regulating".

The committee unanimously approved the plans for the tunnel.

Councillor Liz Allan told the meeting: “Finally I know how the chickens cross the road.”