WORK has been suspended one some of Worcestershire’s main road improvement schemes.

The Southern Link Road work at Powick is one of several key pieces of infrastructure work to have been suspended due to the coronavirus crisis.

Worcestershire County Council’s Highways department said it had taken the decision to suspend the work due to “a number of factors” including personnel shortages, problems with sourcing construction materials and a desire to minimise the need for personnel to be travelling to and from the sites.

READ MORE: Athletics legend Paula Radcliffe helping Worcester City Run with new activities

Projects where work is being largely or completely suspended include the Southern Link Road, Churchfields in Kidderminster, Pinvin crossroads near Pershore and the A38 between the M5 and M42 in Bromsgrove.

The council added the sites will be left in a safe and secure condition but will be inspected on a regular basis.

A statement on the county council's website said: "The sites will be left in a safe and secure condition but they will be inspected on a regular basis.

"Members of the public can email the Major Projects Team at majorprojects@worcestershire.gov.uk if they have any concerns eg about site security. Work will resume once it is considered safe and appropriate to do so.

"Where work is still underway, for example where our contractors are making a site safe, the personnel will strictly adhere to the recently issued construction industry’s Site Operating Procedures which require personnel who have symptoms of Covid-19 not to attend site and specify hygiene measures and procedures for minimising interaction between operatives."

READ MORE: Worcestershire businesses can get a range of business support

Despite this suspension, emergency works will continue as normal.

The work on the Southern Link Road is being done to dual the entire length of the A4440 from the M5 to the Powick roundabout.

The Southern Link works have been delayed significantly since the Department for Transport (DfT) announced in November 2017 that £54.5million of funding had been secured for a new bridge and viaduct to be built between Ketch and Powick roundabouts. The final phase of the scheme (phase 4) is now in progress and completion is due in 2021.

The A4440 Southern Link Road is also an important bypass to the city centre and provides one of only two road crossings of the River Severn in Worcester City.