THREE months after a section of the A36 at Limpley Stoke was closed for repair work, Highways England have announced that it will reopen in just over a week.

The three-mile stretch of the A36 from Brassknocker Hill to Hantone Hill in Claverton was closed to allow for corrections to be made to geotechnical faults in the bank underneath the road, which damaged the road surface.

The scheme, which was estimated to cost £2.3m, was due to finish next Friday but this week Highways England said they had encountered rocks in “unexpected places”, which has pushed the reopening date back three days to Monday, June 22 at 9am.

During the closure, bus services were affected but thanks to the work of Winsley parish council, a replacement shuttle bus from Winsley service, believed to cost Highways England £27,000, transported passengers to Bradford on Avon to catch the 265 First bus to Bath via Sally in the Wood.

The bus service will run normally when the A36 reopens.

Motorists also faced long delays, with the diversion route taking northbound drivers from the A36 just west of Warminster to take the A350 north to Chippenham where traffic would join the A4 west to Bath.

Southbound through traffic followed the opposite route.

Highways England said they would like to thank road users and local residents for their patience while they carried out the maintenance work.

The A36 will be open for motorists by 9am on June 22.