A couple were so worried about an increase in traffic if an alternative route for the Dobwalls Bypass was given the green light they attended the public inquiry – and found out their own home could be demolished. Nick and Ann Truckle heard about the plan for an alternative route to include a roundabout at the junction of Gipsy Lane and New Road in Liskeard and decided to attend last week's Dobwalls Bypass public inquiry amid concerns that the roundabout would be lit throughout the night and would dramatically increase road noise. But their fears paled into insignificance when they heard from another member of the public at the inquiry that their home, and others, was recommended for demolition to provide better access to the roundabout for traffic coming down New Road. Mr Truckle, of Little Dean, Liskeard, said: 'This has been our home for the last 11 years. 'We intend to retire here and, as such, we have spent a considerable amount of money on a wide range of home improvements. 'I have never felt as shocked or dismayed in my life.' Mr Truckle, 57, said that even receiving compensation if they were served with a compulsory purchase order would not lessen the blow of losing the home he and his 55-year-old wife had hoped to spend the rest of their lives in. The alternative route, which includes a new junction to the west of Liskeard, was presented by the Highways Agency in the name of Liskeard town councillor Bruce Hawken, who said that the town council supported the plan in order to prompt discussions. Cllr Hawken said that he was asked if he would like to propose an alternative scheme by the Highways Agency after lodging two complaints about their proposed £33.5million route for the Dobwalls Bypass. He said that his alternative route was based on a previous one from the Highways Agency that they had already rejected and, while he did not necessarily agree with every aspect of the alternative scheme, he had intended it to spark debate. 'What I'm saying is that a scheme such as that alternative would have met the objections that I saw in the Dobwalls Bypass,' he said. Sympathy He said that in almost any scheme it was inevitable that some properties would have to be compulsorily purchased but said that none of the details had even been ironed out in relation to the alternative route. 'The exact position of the roundabout at the end of the Dobwalls Bypass has been changed three times to ensure the minimum effect on people so as much as possible you don't have to knock down people's houses and pinch people's gardens,' he said. 'None of that work has been done on the alternative route.' He also expressed sympathy for anyone affected by such schemes. 'One hopes that the compensation process is more thoughtful than it once was,' he said. It is most likely that the Highways Agency's proposed scheme for the Dobwalls Bypass will be the preferred option but the secretary of state will consider the findings of the presiding independent inspector of the public inquiry, Jack Moffett. Cllr Hawken said that whatever happens, he, and the rest of Liskeard Town Council, would still like to see some of the plans included in the alternative route put into practice. 'In the discussion the town council have had, there's support for an all-directions junction at the west end of Liskeard. It would have very significant benefits for the town,' he said. 'But I also recognise that it would have a significant impact on people that it affected and until it is put on the table you cannot begin to look at things in more detail. You don't know the full story.' Cllr Hawken said that in the next six months the council would be looking at how Liskeard could develop in the future and at the way the town is hindered 'by the imbalance of the junctions at either end of the town.' A South West spokesman for the Highways Agency said that he could not comment on the specifics of the alternative route, other than to say that it was the agency's responsibility to help people put forward differing views so that the public could compare their scheme with others.