A MAIN road will now not be closed for three weeks following objections from residents and businesses.

Contractors carrying out a £2 million repainting of Scarborough’s Valley Bridge said they needed to close Valley Road in order to move on to the next stage of the job.

North Yorkshire County Council, which is responsible for the work, says it has now ditched a plan to close the road for three weeks. The road will not be fully closed and work will begin on August 31.

Barrie Mason, North Yorkshire’s assistant director for highways, said: “During the next phase of repainting work on Valley Bridge plans were in place to close Valley Road.

“However, in light of the issues this would cause scaffolding will now be erected in sections over Valley Road, meaning the road will remain open and only one lane will need to be closed at any time with two-way traffic signals in operation."

Businesses and residents feared that the closure of the road would lead to gridlock in the town and impact on the tourist season.

County Cllr Janet Jefferson said: “It would be terrible for the businesses, they are doing well and recouping some of their losses following the lockdown and they don’t want to lose that.”