DRIVERS in Christchurch are to expect delays for the next nine days due to urgent repair works to a collapsed sewer near Christchurch Hospital.

Wessex Water have had to close Bronte Avenue until Friday November 27, but access is maintained for residents and sewerage services remain unaffected.

The closure also means the temporary lights are now running two-ways along Fairmile Road, as opposed to the three-way traffic lights which were previously planned.

Yet peak traffic is said to be coping well.

Sewerage crews are set to work extended hours and during weekends in order to have the situation resolved promptly.

A Wessex Water spokesperson said: “Bronte Avenue was closed at the junction with Fairmile Road yesterday morning to allow sewer lining to take place, the next stage of our emergency repair work.

“Residents are still able to access their properties and the temporary traffic lights are now two-way rather than three-way to help traffic flow on Fairmile Road.

“We’d like to apologise again for any disruption caused by this emergency work. Our sewerage crews have been working extended hours, including evenings and over the weekend, in order to complete work as quickly as possible.”

Motorists have been asked to avoid Fairmile Road where possible to minimise delays, as the company carry out emergency repairs on the southbound side of the road.

Wessex Water have reassured residents that access to the hospital and customers’ sewage service have not been affected by the maintenance work.

Residents awoke on the morning of Sunday November 15 to find a considerable amount of water on the road and a strong smell of sewage in the air, which has since been cleared.

These works are the latest in a long list to have affected Christchurch residents in recent times, with maintenance works, carried out by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, on Bargates causing substantial disruption during September and October.