YORK’S Gillygate will close today for up to a fortnight, with motorists and buses being forced to take a lengthy diversion.

Cars and buses heading to York Hospital from the city centre will face a detour via Bootham, Clifton, Water Lane, Burdyke Avenue, Crichton Avenue, Wigginton Road and Clarence Street.

Yorkshire Water says contractors are carrying out improvements to a water main and it has urged people to “bear with us whilst we carry out this important work”.

The company says the three-inch water main, originally laid in 1910, needed to be relined to improve the taste and appearance of drinking water in the area.