CONCERNS have been raised over the proposed eight-week closure of one of the main routes through Norton.

Repair work started on Church Street, which was once described as one of the worst roads in the county, this week, with a diversion via St Nicholas Street.

However, members of Norton Town Council were told that concerns had been raised by businesses regarding the closure, along with the diverted route.

Town clerk Ros Tierney said: "Businesses in the area are particularly concerned, especially with the run-up to the festive period being important to their profitability.

"The council is therefore asked if they could make County Highways aware of their concerns and ask that they make every effort to ensure the work is carried out in as timely a manner as possible."

Calls have been made for Church Street to be resurfaced for a number of years following complaints over potholes and subsidence.

Councillor Di Keal said: "Church Street is in such a state it is positively dangerous, so I hope everyone is pleased it is finally happening.

"St Nicholas Street has a parking restriction in place, which although it is a nuisance for us residents, it is short-term pain for long-term gain. The parking restriction really is to make the diversion safer for everyone, rather than large trucks and buses trying to pass parked cars.

"This is something that we have been asking to be done for a long time so I hope people will bear with them and hopefully they will get on with it as quickly as possible."

Tony Bowman, from Tyke Ltd, in Church Street, said they wanted to stress that the petrol station was open for business.

"We want to make it clear to people that they can still use us for petrol," he said. "The council was supposed to put in a one-way system to get to us, but at the moment the whole road is blocked by bollards with two men moving them to let vehicles in and out.

"We are a busy site and to have the road closed for two months is very worrying. A lot of people rely on us for their fuel and we want to stress to them that we are open for business."

County Councillor Don Mackenzie, North Yorkshire’s executive member for highways, said the resurfacing scheme would include carriageway and footway resurfacing and kerbing.

“These works have been long awaited but we wanted to make sure that the utility companies had completed major replacement works before we carried out this much-needed resurfacing," he said.

“Our contractors will make every effort to minimise disruption and we will undertake to keep people informed. However, we urge motorists to allow a little more time for their journeys.”

Contractors are currently working to replace footways and kerbing in Church Street. When they have finished the footway they will then surface the carriageway, firstly in Church Street, followed by St Nicholas Street, Wold Street and Langton Road to the junction of Wood Street.

It is expected that the work will take up to seven to eight weeks and the closures will be lifted daily when the contractors leave the site.

Access is being maintained and business open as usual signs have been put up. Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times.

For more information and weekly updates, go to roadworks.org