PLANS for a supertram linking the Hampshire towns of Fareham and Gosport are set to be shunted into the sidings for good, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Transport bosses at Hampshire County Council were today set to agree to axe the multi-million-pound project after the government pulled the plug on funds in December last year - claiming it was too expensive.

The county's ruling Conservative Cabinet is expected to formally drop the scheme but will retain control over the former rail line between Fareham and Gosport to safeguard the route for "future transport needs".

The formal death of the scheme comes the day before a four-month inquiry is launched into the South East Plan which provides a blueprint for growth in Hampshire and the south east over the next two decades.

The supertram project was seen as a key part of Hamp-shire's transport plans over the next 20 years and would have taken traffic off the county's overcrowded road network.

Around 120,000 new homes are set to be built in Hampshire under the South East Plan. County chiefs will outline their case for more government cash to pay for vital infrastructure such as roads and schools, to the inquiry in December.