THERE will be road closures and temporary traffic lights in Worcester city centre as work takes place on ageing gas mains.

From Monday (January 7), teams from Cadent will move in to Sansome Walk, and later Sansome Place/Lion Court, to replace four metallic pipes with new long-lasting plastic ones.

There are four pipes directly under the road surface which are now in a condition that has led local gas network Cadent to consider them in need of urgent replacement, to ensure safety.

Residents in Sansome Walk, Sansome Place and Lion Court were visited by customer teams in November and December, and have also had letters, explaining the need for this work.

Planners have worked closely with Worcestershire County Council to agree the timing of this work and the temporary traffic changes that need to be enforced.

The works comes in two phases:

Phase one, from 7 January to 28 January: Sansome Walk will be closed from the junction with Pierpoint Street to the junction with Sansome Place, which means a signed diversion route will be in place.

Phase two, from 28 January to 18 February: the teams then move into Lion Court/Sansome Place where traffic will be guided safely around the work area by temporary traffic lights.

Craig Horrocks, who heads Cadent’s gas mains replacement programme in the West Midlands, said: “This is essential work, to ensure we can safely deliver gas to thousands of properties in this area of Worcester, where it is used to keep people warm and cook food.

“We’re dealing with pipes here that are the same size in diameter as a car tyre and we’ll be operating heavy machinery – it’s our priority to keep everyone safe while we do this major engineering.

“We are aware this is a very busy area and have worked closely with the county council’s highways team to minimise disruption as best we can.”

If residents / businesses have any questions about this Worcester job, they can contact the customer team on 0161 703 1000. For further information of diversion routes and access please refer to Roadworks.org

More information on Cadent’s mains replacement programme is at www.bettergaspipes.co.uk