A REVIEW into extending an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to cover Manningtree and Mistley has been hailed as ‘great news’.

The northern banks of the River Stour, in Suffolk, already have the prestigious designation, and campaigners have been pressing for it to be extended to the Essex side as well.

In May, there were fears it could be three years before the extension is approved by the Government organisation, Natural England.

Last month Natural England announced a review into extending the AONB boundary to cover the south side of the Stour estuary.

Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB Chairman David Wood said: ‘This is great news for the special landscape and economy of the south side of the Stour estuary.

“We started the process to designate the area as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty some 20 years ago."