HIGHWAY chiefs have opened a £1m junction that aims to ease summer gridlock in the New Forest.

Hampshire County Council has provided drivers with a second major route to tourist hotspots by installing a right-turn facility on the A326 at Colbury.

The long-awaited scheme will reduce the pressure on roads which bear the brunt of holiday traffic.

Every year thousands of families heading for the Forest leave the motorway at junction 1 near Cadnam and take the A337 to Lyndhurst.

Huge tailbacks build up as drivers queue at traffic lights at the entrance to the village. Now highway bosses are hoping more motorists will exit the motorway at junction 2 near Ower and use the A326 to enter the Forest.

Most drivers have boycotted the route in the past because the lack of a right-turn facility at Colbury resulted in a long detour.

Motorists had to join the A35, negotiate the Rushington roundabout and then double back along the same road to reach Ashurst and Lyndhurst.

The new junction provides them with a more direct route to the heart of the Forest. It was opened by Keith Estlin, the county council's executive member for environment, who said: "This much-needed scheme will greatly reduce the amount of traffic which has to double back on itself.

"It will also reduce the number of vehicles that rat-run through the Foxhills area of Ashurst."

Councillor Estlin said environmental measures on the A35 at Ashurst would cut traffic speeds and make it easier for pedestrians to cross.

The new junction will face its first major test this week, when the three-day New Forest Show, which attracts about 100,000 spectators every year, is held at New Park, Brockenhurst.

Highway chiefs are waiting to see how many drivers use the A326 instead of the A337 to reach the event.