SEWER repairs which have caused a road to be closed for more than a month are making steady progress, says Wessex Water.

The work by Wessex Water is being carried out to repair four sections of a surface water sewer underneath North Allington, Bridport.

This will be followed by survey work alongside Dorset Council’s flood risk management and highways teams as part of an investigation into surface water flooding in the area.

The road closure (B3162) is being phased in line with each section of the sewer that needs renovating in an attempt to minimise disruption to local residents and businesses.

Julian Britton, sewer rehabilitation programme manager at Wessex Water, said: “We are aware that there are many residents and businesses along the B3162 that will be affected by our essential work, but unfortunately a full road closure was necessary to protect our workforce and motorists given how narrow the road is.

“We have been maintaining access for residents and business owners at all times and we have placed signs to let people know that businesses are open as usual during our work. We are also in contact with some businesses to ask if there is anything else we can do to support them while we are working in the area, as we appreciate that this may cause further distress for them in addition to the current Covid-19 restrictions.

“The first repair has been completed and we are on track to finish the full project by our target end date.

“We’d like to thank all of our customers affected by the road closure for their patience and cooperation while we complete this work as quickly as possible.”

The road closure began on Monday, February 8 and will be in place until Friday, March 12.

A diversion route is currently in place, taking drivers across west Dorset and will take approximately 30 minutes to follow the 24.5 kilometre route.

The phased closure of the B3162 for the remainder of the work is as follows:

• 24 February to 3 March – road closure between 135 and 166 North Allington

• 3 to 10 March – road closure between 166 and 170 North Allington.