A BUSY Worcester road will be shut off to through-traffic for more than a month.

Ombersley Road will be closed to commuters between the junction with Droitwich Road and Checketts Lane for five weeks from February 17 while contractors work in Barbourne Road and Sunnyside Road.

Severn Trent Water is carrying out the £300,000 project to install new sewer pipes and a small pumping station in a bid to prevent sewers from flooding during heavy rainfall.

Frank Thompson, area manager at Severn Trent Water, said: “We will do our best to minimise disruption to the local community, however, to complete this work safely and quickly, we will need to close Sunnyside Road. We will also install traffic lights on Barbourne Road while we complete work there.

“While we were carrying out our investigatory work in the area last year, we realised there was a real need to work closely with Worcestershire County Council to try to minimise congestion. We’ve taken this onboard and, this time round, the southbound lane of the Ombersley Road – at the junction with Droitwich Road – will also be closed from February 17 for five weeks, to try to minimise congestion.”

A public exhibition on the plans will take place on Wednesday, January 30, at Worcester City Football Club, between 3pm and 7pm.

Residents will be able to find out more about the road closures and diversion routes, which will be in place while the work is carried out from February 10 to mid-April.