A KEY junction in Ledbury town centre is now closed for six days due to roadworks.

For the past week, four-way temporary lights have been in place at Top Cross so that traffic lights can be replaced.

However, from today (February 11), the junction will be closed in all four directions so that work can take place in the carriageway.

This includes digging up the roads and laying new electrical cables.

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In a letter sent to residents, Balfour Beatty said:  "We will be digging up the full width of the road across all four arms of the junction, which is why it is not possible for us to carry out this element of the works under traffic lights or a convoy.

"During this time, Knapp Lane and Cut Throat Lane will also be closed, with access only for residents. After careful consideration, we have made the decision to close this road for safety reasons and to prevent a build-up of traffic and potential road traffic accidents at the junction of Knapp Lane and The Homend.

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"Residents of Bank Crescent and Homend Crescent will be able to access their properties from The Homend."

During the closure, there will be several diversion routes in place.

  • For New Street, The Southend and High Street, you should utilise the Ledbury bypass.
  • There will be two diversion routes for Worcester Road – one for HGVs and one for smaller vehicles and cars. For HGVs, the diversion will be via the A417 Ledbury Road / B4213 Straight Lane / B4211 Long Green / A438 Eastnor and vice versa. Vehicle mapping software will ensure that the junction of the A449 and A438 at Eastnor is suitable for HGVs. For smaller vehicles, the diversion will be via the A417 Ledbury Road / B4203 Rye Cross / A438 Eastnor and vice versa.

"We appreciate that locals may choose to use alternative routes," added the Balfour Beatty spokesperson. 

"We have scheduled the works so that the road closure will be in place during the school half-term, to try and minimise disruption to local traffic as much as we can.

"We will be working collaboratively with Welsh Water and National Grid, who will also be completing works under the road closure to minimise further disruption at a later date."

The closures will be removed at 6am on Saturday (February 17) and the temporary four-way traffic lights will be back in place at Top Cross for around two weeks.