AN ambitious vision for a multi-billion pound bridge across Morecambe Bay has gone on show to the public.

A green energy company unveiled its plans for a 12-mile, £8.6bn tidal power gateway linking Furness with Heysham at a two day public consultation event held at The Platform in Morecambe.

The driving force behind the gateway, which will have a road 'like the M6' along the top of it as well as providing enough energy to power two million homes, is Alan Toverell of North West Energy Squared.

He believes that the scheme could be up and running 'in the next 10 years' and that it could generate 10,000 jobs.

Half of the money needed to get the scheme off the ground will come from private, commercial money, according to Mr Toverell, with the other half being raised through 'public money'.

Some 230 tidal turbines would also be installed across Morecambe Bay and the Duddon Estuary, producing over seven million megawatts of renewable electricity every year for its 120-year lifespan.

But the scheme still needs to go through several planning phases and undergo an environmental assessment, prompting some key local figures to voice their doubts over it ever coming to fruition.

Susannah Bleakley of the Morecambe Bay Partnership, a charity that secures investment in the region, said: "We've got a sense that we've heard these proposals before and we feel nothing has changed. The costs are phenomenal. I don't think the technology here is proven.

"I can't see how you would build it, how you would get your money back, how you would get through environmental tests or get funding in the first place. I'm yet to be convinced that the huge economic costs are justified."

Charlotte Rowley, spokesperson for the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: "There's no way it wouldn't impact on wildlife. There's a lot of birds that feed in the mud as well as marine life. The main problem is that we're pretty confident this will come to nothing but we have to spend our charity's money on an impact assessment."

Barrow-and-Furness MP John Woodcock has met with some representatives of North West Energy Squared and, according to a spokesperson, was interested in their proposals with regard to increasing accessibility into the region but reserved his judgement until proper environmental checks have been conducted.