A ROAD near Hereford which was shut for more than a year is set to close again.

Herefordshire Council said the B4224 Fownhope road would be closed over a five-day period this month for roadworks.

The road, from the Holme Lacy bridge towards Fownhope, was closed in February 2020 after storm damage and reopened in March 2021.

But five months after reopening, Herefordshire Council contractor Balfour Beatty Living Place said more roadworks were needed.

The firm then pushed works back after local residents raised their concerns over the timing, with the closures originally planned for August – a busy time for tourism.

But those works will now take place for five days from February 21.

In a letter to locals, Balfour Beatty said the road would be closed between Scotch Firs and Lower House Gardens on Monday, February 21, from 9am until 5pm, due to resurfacing work.

The road would then be closed from Mordiford to Fownhope from Tuesday, February 22 until Friday, February 25.

The diversion will be via the B4224 to Ross-on-Wye, then to the Hereford on the A49 and then the A438 Ledbury Road to Dormington to rejoin the B4224, the letter said.

"The nature of the work will require us to close the road for one week," it said.

"This is for the safety of both our workforce and the travelling public, as the road is not wide enough to accommodate ur machinery and a safe running lane for traffic.

"We have planned these works during the half-term to minimise disruption as much as possible, particularly to school traffic.

"We will do everything we can to assist with access, although there may be limited periods of time when it is not safe to travel through the closure of when there may be long days."

The emergency services will have access at all times, it said, but warned drivers not to ignore road closure signs and to only pass when given permission.

There have been road closures signs on the B4224 recently as work is carried out at the Old Gore crossroads, near Ross-on-Wye.