diff --git a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/LineLengthCheck.java b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/LineLengthCheck.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5d035dc52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/checks/LineLengthCheck.java
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// checkstyle: Checks Java source code for adherence to a set of rules.
+// Copyright (C) 2001-2002  Oliver Burn
+//
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+// modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+// version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+// Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks;
+
+import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.Check;
+import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.Utils;
+import org.apache.regexp.RE;
+import org.apache.regexp.RESyntaxException;
+import org.apache.commons.beanutils.ConversionException;
+
+/**
+ * Checks for long lines.
+ *
+ * <p>
+ * Rationale: Long lines are hard to read in printouts or if developers
+ * have limited screen space for the source code, e.g. if the IDE displays
+ * additional information like project tree, class hierarchy, etc.
+ * </p>
+ *
+ * <p>
+ * Note: Support for the special handling of imports in CheckStyle Version 2
+ * has been dropped as it is a special case of regexp: The user can set
+ * the ignorePattern to "^import" and achieve the same effect.
+ * </p>
+ *
+ * @author Lars Kühne
+ */
+public class LineLengthCheck extends Check
+{
+    /** the maximum number of columns in a line */
+    private int mMax = 80;
+
+    /** the regexp when long lines are ignored */
+    private RE mIgnorePattern;
+
+    public LineLengthCheck()
+    {
+        setIgnorePattern("^$");
+    }
+
+    public int[] getDefaultTokens()
+    {
+        return new int[0];
+    }
+
+    /** @see com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.Check */
+    public void beginTree()
+    {
+        final String[] lines = getLines();
+        for (int i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
+
+            final String line = lines[i];
+            final int realLength = Utils.lengthExpandedTabs(
+                line, line.length(), getTabWidth());
+
+
+            if (realLength > mMax && !mIgnorePattern.match(line)) {
+                log(i + 1, "maxLineLen", new Integer(mMax));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param aLength the maximum length of a line
+     */
+    public void setMax(int aLength)
+    {
+        mMax = aLength;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set the ignore pattern.
+     * @param aFormat a <code>String</code> value
+     * @throws org.apache.commons.beanutils.ConversionException unable to parse aFormat
+     */
+    public void setIgnorePattern(String aFormat)
+    {
+        try {
+            mIgnorePattern = Utils.getRE(aFormat);
+        }
+        catch (RESyntaxException e) {
+            throw new ConversionException("unable to parse " + aFormat, e);
+        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/LineLengthCheckTest.java b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/LineLengthCheckTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..49138cebc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/LineLengthCheckTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle;
+
+import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.LineLengthCheck;
+
+public class LineLengthCheckTest extends BaseCheckTestCase
+{
+    public LineLengthCheckTest(String aName)
+    {
+        super(aName);
+    }
+
+
+    public void testSimple()
+        throws Exception
+    {
+        final CheckConfiguration checkConfig = new CheckConfiguration();
+        checkConfig.setClassname(LineLengthCheck.class.getName());
+        checkConfig.addProperty("max", "80");
+        checkConfig.addProperty("ignorePattern",  "^.*is OK.*regexp.*$");
+        final Checker c = createChecker(checkConfig);
+        final String filepath = getPath("InputSimple.java");
+        final String[] expected = {
+            "18: Line is longer than 80 characters.",
+            "145: Line is longer than 80 characters.",
+        };
+        verify(c, filepath, expected);
+    }
+
+}