A MAIN road into Poole which has been dug up four times in the past six months is about to suffer up to nine weeks of further disruption.

Wessex Water is to replace a 270-metre section of failing water main at the entrance to the Turlin Moor estate and the main Blandford Road will be closed in one direction.

The old six-inch cast iron main burst three times in a month earlier in the year and residents suffered massive queues in a four-way traffic light operation.

Now after consulting Bor-ough of Poole’s transportation department it has been decided to close the road southbound from the Murco petrol station to beyond the Turlin Moor entrance – to avoid causing congestion in Poole.

Emergency vehicles will be allowed through and bus routes have been adjusted but from October 22 when work begins, residents will be un-able to turn right out of Turlin Moor, facing a seven-mile trip around Holes Bay to town.

“I’m gobsmacked about this,” said Bryan Cobb of Cobb Bros kitchen planners and furnishers in Allens Lane. “We have suffered for the last three years where they can’t get it right.”

He said: “It will definitely affect our customers,” and feared some would give up trying to get to them and go elsewhere.

And it will be a double whammy for the motorist in the run up to Christmas with Dorset County Council pro-posing to close one lane of the A35 Upton by-pass going towards Poole from Novem-ber 5 for five weeks to repair the Lytchett Minster bridge.

“The traffic in Upton is going to be horrendous again,” said Upton resident Pam Orchard. “It’s going to be absolute chaos. Why always Upton?”

Ian Drury, spokesman for Wessex Water said: “When this water main burst we had hundreds of properties without water and we don’t want that happening again.”

He said crews would be working from both ends and extra hours would be put in to get the main replaced with a plastic pipe as quickly as possible.