EUROPE'S largest stormwater tunnel and Britain's oldest electric railway were linked at a ceremony in Brighton.

Brighton and Hove mayor Francis Tonks unveiled a plaque on a stormwater pumping station and a new terminal at Black Rock for Volk's Railway.

The building was provided as part of Southern Water's £40 million Brighton and Hove stormwater tunnel project, part of a £1.2 billion building programme.

It has been designed in Regency style to blend into the nearby conservation area and has a car park.

The tunnel, three miles long, 20 feet in diameter and 100 feet below the beach, took four years to build.

Southern Water's Sussex director Chris Slack said: "The railway station is now open and the tunnel is working, preventing millions of gallons of stormwater from being discharged on to the beaches.

"The water is stored during heavy rainfall and then pumped back into the sewerage system for treatment when storms abate."

The mayor said: "This will be of immense benefit to people in Brighton and Hove."

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