REPAIRS to the new surface of the roundabout at Chapel Gate will take place in March.

Urgent work to resurface the road is needed after the major traffic bottleneck near Bournemouth Airport showed signs of wear in December - just one week after it was resurfaced.

Now, Dorset County Council say the deterioration of the material has been caused by "a combination of factors".

They include the specification of the material used, the cold ground conditions at the time of laying and the location of the joints of the laid material, says the authority.

Cllr Daryl Turner, cabinet member for the natural and built environment, said: “The remedial work will be carried out at no cost to Dorset County Council or Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership.

“There were a number of factors that contributed to the failure of the material, and we’ll carrying out further investigations to ensure these don’t reoccur. We’re sorry for the additional disruption the work in March will cause.”

The work will take place before the Easter holidays, although no exact dates have been given yet.

Engineers will also be monitoring the material with frequent inspections, and taking further samples, to inform the extent of the repairs needed.

The £1.5million scheme to redevelop Chapel Gate roundabout was due to be completed on December 15 - a week early, Dorset Highways boasted in a blog post.

But that deadline was pushed back, and just before Christmas, Dorset Highways said the road would need repairs in the New Year.

The project, which is part of the £45million BIG (Bournemouth International Growth) Programme, is intended to boost business investment around both Bournemouth Airport and the Wessex Fields site by Royal Bournemouth Hospital, with changes also made to junctions at Blackwater and Parley.

It has seen a new left turn lane created on the south eastern side for traffic from Hurn, and a new approach lane to the Aviation Business Park created on the north side.

Lanes from the business park have been widened, and new 'islands' created between them along with the creation of new cycleways.