Road damaged by landslip set to reopen in spring 2025

A road which has been closed for more than two-and-a-half years because of a severe landslip, is expected to reopen in spring 2025.

A £5m repair project is well under way at B4069 Lyneham Banks in Wiltshire, after the landslip dislodged about 90m (295ft) of the carriageway and transported it 40m (131ft) down the hillside.

Leader of Wiltshire Council, Richard Clewer, described the damage as "completely surreal. It's like something from a sandpit."

The repairs are being carried out by Octavius construction company, whose director Chris Hudson described it as a "challenging" project.

Mr Hudson has been in the business for 28 years and said that while he had seen similar issues on railway lines, he had not seen anything like it with a road in England.

"We follow the right method, we don't take risks, he added.

Mr Clewer said that the council and construction company have had a lot to contend with.

"It's completely unique," he said.

"There are plenty of engineering ideas for how you deal with an embankment, how you stop land moving, but then how you stop a road moving?

"You're normally trying to stop a cliff from moving onto a road, not a road from moving down a cliff."

Outlining the severity of the problem, he added: "It looks like the aftermath of an earthquake from a film. The closest thing I can give you is it looks like a cliff that's slumped."

The situation has been frustrating for residents and motorists, and businesses have lost trade.

Mr Clewer said he understood the discontent: "The road round Bradenstoke, it's not suitable for anything other than village traffic.

"It's taken a while to get to this point. If we don't sort this properly, that hill is going to continue to move down. We could not do work until the hill had stopped moving.

"It's not the kind of problem you want to be facing as a council - we've got enough problems as it is without a road falling down a hill," added Mr Clewer.

Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.