Lyneham road closed by subsidence could cost millions to repair

A ripped up road likened to being hit by an earthquake could take up to a year to fix and cost millions of pounds, a council has said.

The B4069 near Lyneham in Wiltshire has buckled in places, leaving huge cracks in the road, due to subsidence.

An emergency road closure was put in place on 17 February but police said some drivers were ignoring it, putting themselves and workers in danger.

Wiltshire Council said it was awaiting a report from geotechnical specialists.

Local residents claim the subsidence has been getting worse over the last year and that a landslip was inevitable. An investigation is under way into the cause.

Dr Mark McClelland, Wiltshire Council cabinet member for transport, told BBC Radio Wiltshire: "It could costs hundreds of thousands or up into the millions [to fix].

"There is significant damage to the road. It could be up to 12 months in total. It's not something that can be resolved in a matter of days or weeks."

Dr McClelland said people's description of it looking like an earthquake or the San Andreas Fault were "accurate", with the road "buckled three to four feet in places".

He said the council would wait until it had the report before deciding the next steps and asked drivers to obey the signs in place.

"The underlying ground has slipped and we need to understand why that has happened," he said.

"This road has been subject to remedial works in the past and it has been a difficult road to deal with, but we've never seen anything like this before.

"The police have been very clear that it's very dangerous for motorists to ignore signage."

Brendan Watkins, who runs the nearby Peterborough Arms pub, said the closure is already having an impact on trade.

"It's been quite bad. We lost about 50% of our restaurant bookings this weekend," he said.

"It's a big job but it needs to be done as quickly as possible because local businesses are suffering."

Jay Collings, director of 3Sixty Bodyworx, a car body workshop on the B4069, said the road has been an issue for many years.

"I'm surprised it's not been shut earlier. All they've been doing is patching it up and not addressing the problem.

"I think they should put a weight limit in or put money into it and do it correctly. They need to invest in the safety of the road," he said.

The road will remain closed while further investigations take place and motorists have been urged to follow the diversion.

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