WORK on dualling most of Worcester's A4440 Southern Link Road is moving at a rapid pace - with Norton island the latest area to be revamped.

These images show how land near the congested roundabout has been turned into a mudbath as workers get to grips with it.

The busy link is in the middle of a £41 million Worcestershire County Council project to fully dual the sections from Whittington island to the Ketch.

Back in October highways workers started the third phase of the massive overhaul, which is the most significant yet.

Around £33 million is going on a raft of measures including reconfiguring the island so it is bigger, a dedicated left turn from Whittington Road to Crookbarrow Way to scrap the controversial slip-lane, and a bridleway bridge crossing for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders.

The entire carriageway from Norton island to Whittington island will also be dualled, while the section down to the Ketch will be finished off.

Under the current timetable the work will finish by the end of 2018, and as soon as possible after that council chiefs hope to be able to lay out plans to dual the A4440 Carrington Bridge, which requires around £70 million of funds and is known as phase four.

The leadership at County Hall has put aside £7 million for Carrington Bridge and has submitted a business case to central Government in the hope of securing enough money to do it.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, the deputy leader and cabinet member for economy, skills and infrastructure, said: "The third phase is the biggest one so far and it will be the summer, or even winter of 2018 before we finish it - and after that we want to move seamlessly onto Carrington Bridge.

"We've got a clear plan to dual the link from Whittington island all the way to Powick, including that Carrington Bridge, a new gateway for the west.

"It's about tackling congestion, improving the reliability of journey times, that's the plan - the only fly in the ointment is the bridge funding.

"We all know it needs to happen and we need to win that argument with the DFT (Department for Transport)."

The entire link is used by around 30,000 vehicles each weekday and suffers severe congestion at peak times.

Council modelling back in 2014 revealed how doing nothing to the link would lead to a 30 per cent increase in journey times by 2026.