PEOPLE in Bromyard were caught out yesterday (March 9) by road repairs to one of the main routes to the town being brought forward without notice.

Highways contractors started work on the Tenbury road more than a week ahead of the pre-arranged start date.

Local businesses and residents were sent letters on February 27 telling them of the planned works and road closure for March 18.

But contractors had to conduct emergency repairs on the road as a result of damage from the recent Storm Dennis and decided to bring forward the planned works as well.

However, they didn’t notify residents of the change.

Local councillor Nigel Shaw was also kept in the dark about the change of plans.

He said the unexpected disruption was frustrating for residents and businesses who had planned for the closure next week.

A Balfour Beatty spokesperson apologised for the inconvenience in an email reply to coun Shaw.

“In addition to the section of highway earmarked for resurfacing later this month, another section of the carriageway was showing signs of extreme distress as a result of Storm Dennis and, for safety reasons, we judged that this section of road needed repairing as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.

“Rather than complete the emergency repairs and then revisit the road on a separate occasion, causing additional delays, we completed all necessary works in one visit.

“We always aim to cause the least disruption possible.

“We have delivered 50% more work to the highway and drainage assets than originally planned.

“I am sorry if the change of date caused any inconvenience for road users.

“We did arrange with Edwyn Ralph Caravan Park to put up signage (in a safe location) in order that their business was not impacted in any way.

“We have not received any other comments regarding the change of date and we expect work to be completed by the end of today.”

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said: “In addition to the section of highway earmarked for resurfacing later this month, another section of the carriageway was showing signs of extreme distress as a result of Storm Dennis.

"For safety reasons, we judged that this section of road needed repairing as soon as possible.

“We took the opportunity to complete the planned works under the current emergency road closure at the same time in order to minimise overall disruption.

"We expect the work to be completed by the end of today and the future road closure will be cancelled.”