Drivers heading for Bath will be unable to use the Viaduct junction on Limpley Stoke to get to the A36 or up Brassknocker Hill on Monday to Thursday nights next week, while unsafe trees are removed.

Construction company Skanska is doing the work, which is estimated to take five weeks, although the road is so far only due to be closed on the first four nights, between 9pm and 6am.

After this, the work will be finished with traffic lights at the junction on Brassknocker Hill for Monkton Combe and Lower Stoke.

During the night closures lorry traffic should follow a 28-mile signed diversion from Warminster, using the A350 and A4, although traffic can leave the A36 at Hinton Charthouse and travel to and from Bath through Midford – as long as it does not breach the seven-and-a-half tonne weight restriction in the village.

The Highways Agency said the work will include the removal of all loose boulders and trees while securing the embankment and installing a steel mesh to protect road users from potential rock falls.

Access will be maintained for residents and emergency services.