DESPITE the difficult weather conditions Dorset County Council say they have made 'good progress' on work to the A35 Upton bypass.

It has been two weeks since major bridge protection work began along the bypass - with it not expected to finish until Friday, May 5.

So far all of the existing steel barriers have been removed and excavation work has been carried out under all three bridges.

The council say that over the next two weeks teams will finish laying the foundations, install nine new drains on the eastbound A35 and start preparing the concrete barrier foundations.

During the works the Upton Bypass will be reduced to one lane each way and there will be a 30mph speed restriction in place in the roadworks area.

But there are also overnight road closures planned for five nights from Monday, April 10 to Friday, April 14.

The road will be closed from 8pm until 7am during the works - which the council say could only take two nights weather dependant.

During the closure engineers will be removing existing lines and road studs and replacing them with temporary units until phase two begins next year.