THE busy Ledbury to Bromyard road will be closed as a through route to at least the end of next week, because of resurfacing works near Bishop's Frome.

Diversions will be in place for the duration.

However, the announcement has led to questions as to whether Ledbury residents should have received details in advance from the Highways Authority. This is because letters advising of the roadworks were received two weeks ago by residents in both Bishop's Frome and Bromyard.

And Ledbury county councillor, Phillip Howells, revealed he only received notice of the closure in his council papers just days before the work was set to begin.

Cllr Howells said: "It would have been nice to know, because it is something which county and parish councillors could have picked up and publicised. It is a busy road. The ideal is that people can be advised. I had not heard of this until the end of last week."

But he added: "There are multiple roadworks at any one time in Herefordshire, and in this case the people most affected, at Bishop's Frome, were told, and it raises the point, how far do you go to distribute information?"

The Highways Authority statement said that "letters were sent to residents and businesses who are either within or likely to be directly affected by the road closure and to highlight the diversion route".

It added: "Given the location of this closure, residents of Ledbury were not included in this letter drop activity."

The roadworks, between Bishop's Frome and Munderfield Stocks, are scheduled to be between 9am and 5pm on weekdays. Herefordshire Council has put diversions in place via the A4103 Hereford to Worcester road, A417 to Burley Gate and the A465 towards Bromyard.

This means that motorists from Ledbury should have few problems using the road to beyond Bosbury, but are likely to face diversions when attempting to get to Bromyard and Worcester along the Ledbury to Bromyard road, the B4214 .

In a letter to Bishop's Frome residents, the council's contractor Balfour Beatty Living Places said: "We apologise for any inconvenience these works may cause.

"We do try to keep all disruption to a minimum and thank you in advance for your patience. You may wish to allow extra time for journeys or use alternative routes.

"Please note that we do all we can to avoid closing roads but the safety of the public and our workers is our highest priority. It is sometimes simply not possible to operate safely by use of convoy of temporary traffic light systems.

"You must never, unless directed by a gateman, enter a road closure for roadworks. Road workers have been killed and injured by road users who have done so."

It is not the first time in recent years that the Bromyard Road has been closed for repairs, most notably in 2019, when the road was shut for 14 weeks, so that urgent works to the Storesbrook Bridge, between Ledbury and Bosbury, could be carried out.

Local motorists have given a mixed response to news of the latest closure and diversions.

Speaking on Tuesday, just before work was set to start, Ledbury resident, Alison Turner said: "My husband works in Bromyard and the sign went up this morning. Otherwise he wouldn’t have known!"

And Terry Wilkins added: "The point is, us motorists need to know exactly which section of the roads between Bromyard and Ledbury will be closed off."

But Louise Holloway said: "We had letter few weeks ago. I live in Bromyard."

And Glyn Cummings added: "I live in Bishops Frome and we were told two weeks ago that the road was closing."