Part of the main road running through Lyme Regis is to close for six weeks so repairs can be carried out on a damaged building which has been struck several times.

Lyme Regis Town Council and Dorset Council highways service will be closing the A3052 Church Street/Bridge Street in January and into February to enable the town council to carry out repairs to the Guildhall.

The Grade II Listed Guildhall overhangs the carriageway and the oriel window has been struck at least 6-8 times in the last 24 months and is in desperate need of repair.

At the same time the shuttle traffic signals which control vehicle flow through the narrow street will also be replaced. Dorset Highways says the lights are at their end of their maintainable life and the cabling under the road, the poles and the signal heads need replacing.

As part of the signal replacement, above-ground detection equipment is being installed which will make the equipment easier to maintain, and future work shouldn't require a road closure.

Due to the extremely narrow width of the road, the location of the work and the space required for the Guildhall scaffolding, it is said that the only way to carry out the repairs and highway maintenance is under a road closure.

The road will therefore be closed between Monmouth Road and Cobb Gate Car Park from Tuesday, January 4 to Friday, February 18 2022.

The authorities say the timing of these works has been 'carefully considered', and the start of the year is felt to be the least disruptive time.

Although there are local routes that drivers can use to avoid the closure the official diversion follows a 24km route via the A3052, the A358 and the A35.

Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “Working together under one road closure for the two projects will minimise the considerable inconvenience for residents, and we’ve also carefully considered the timing of these works – with traffic flows typically at their lowest at the start of the year."

Pedestrian access will also be limited during the work, with access to the northern pavement only during the road closure.

Buildings on the southern side will have pedestrian access from Cobb Gate Car Park via the steps and rear access to the Museum, Guildhall Town Hall, Sweet Shop and Marine Theatre.

Arrangements are being made to ensure that waste collections can continue, and bus companies will be running services via an alternative route.

First Bus plan to run from Charmouth to A35 Hunters Lodge, then down to Lyme Regis Langmoor Gardens, back up to Hunters Lodge and then onward to Axminster. This is the usual revised timetable that happens during similar road closures.

In conjunction with the revised town bus service/timetable, most of the town is covered and it continues to get pupils to Woodroffe School.