ACCESS to a main town centre route into Christchurch will be restricted later this month.

As part of the ongoing work on Bridge Street and Castle Street in Christchurch, Dorset County Council said the roads will be closed Monday with temporary signals from Tuesday, February 10 to Friday, February 13.

This will allow BT Openreach to carry out their work replacing services at Town Bridge.

A second closure between Monday, February 16 and Friday, February 27 is likely to cause more disruption with the roads closed between 9am and 4pm excluding weekends.

During this time, Dorset County Council will carry out their work to waterproof the two bridges and resurface the carriageway.

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) will also replace some of their services at the same time.

The diversion route will use the High Street, Christchurch by-pass and Stony Lane and during Monday market will be extended to Sopers Lane and the Quay quarter.

The provisional completion date is March 1.

Portfolio holder for transportation at Christchurch council, Cllr Nick Geary said he hoped the work could be completed by the deadline, adding that that he would be monitoring the situation carefully.